


RWBY: Demonic Justice

by slug39terra



Series: RWBY: Demonic Justice [1]
Category: RWBY, Sonic.EXE Nightmare Beginning
Genre: Crossover, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-01
Updated: 2020-07-04
Packaged: 2021-03-01 02:06:41
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 35
Words: 67,857
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23427460
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/slug39terra/pseuds/slug39terra
Summary: It has been theorised that there are an infinite number of universes but what if certain entities were brought from one universe to another; Here a former every-man and a fallen demon must work together to survive this new world; Will it be easy? No. Will it be painless? Nope. Will it be boring? Oh definitely not.
Series: RWBY: Demonic Justice [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1826050
Kudos: 2





	1. Chapter 1: Heroes don't always enter gracefully

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DISCLAIMER:  
> RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth and Sonic.EXE Nightmare Beginning is owned by JaizKoys, please support both of these.

The Emerald Forest is unforgiving to the inexperienced, what with the monstrous Grimm roaming everywhere, but a skilled warrior can use it to their benefit.

* * *

In the sky, a white flash appears as two figures fall from it.

One of the figures manages to land somewhat gracefully and as he gets up, his appearance is shown; black jeans, a navy blue jacket over a dark blue shirt with blue spines piercing the back, red and white running shoes covering his feet and white finger-less gloves adorning his hands.

The second figure on the other hand didn't land so much as rather he crashed into a toppled log, while he stumbles out of the splintered log, his own appearance is shown; grey denim jeans, a black sleeveless hoodie with yellow and white stripes on the lower part, a sheathed sword slung over his back, his arms both being cybernetic with armoured plates on top of the hands, a head of messy brown hair with a set of eyes; one red with an intricate pattern and the other entirely purple with rings of increasing size around the pupil, a set of ears on top tipped with red and a set of nine fox tails similarly coloured to the extra ears.

"O-ow." The second figure griped as he got up before noticing his arm was still embedded in the log.

"Hmm this is new." The first figure pondered to himself before noticing the second figure attempting to frantically shake the log off his arm.

"Come on get OFF!" The second figure resorted to simply punch the log off with his free arm, afterwards noticing the first figure watching him "Um hi."

The first figure focused on the second one's arms before responding "Greetings I am Exetior." The second figure's eyes went wide after hearing that "Hmm, so the look on your face means you know who I am."

The second figure took a bit of time before speaking "I-I mean, usually you look like Sonic, not a human." it was Exetior's turn to go wide-eyed before looking over himself. "Okay I've seen some oddities but even Negagen in a dress isn't as odd as this."

"I bet it's safe to assume that you're just as clueless as I am on where we are then." Exetior stopped looking at his new form to respond "Yes that is true um-"

"Ryan." the second figure introduced himself.

"Okay then Ryan, first we need to-" Exetior stopped his speech when he heard a twig snap, turning their heads to the sound Ryan and Exeitor tensed up when to two red eyes were visible in the undergrowth before their owner leapt out, the pair got a good view of their attacker; a black lupine creature with white claws and spikes jutting out of its shoulders, knees and along it's spine, but the most notable feature was the head; a white bone plating like a wolf skull covered the top portion.

Exetior was the first to speak "What is that?" Ryan responded with a twinge of fear "A Beowolf!"

[[Song: Rules Of Nature (Metal Version) - Little V]]

The Beowolf lunged at Ryan, giving him just enough time to block its jaws with one of his arms, Ryan was visibly straining with the Beowolf before knocking it away with a punch, afterwards the back of his right hand started glowing "Exetior, keep it busy would you?" He promptly asked.

"Of course!" Exetior rushed at the Beowulf before beginning to grapple with it.

While Exetior was fighting, Ryan tapped the glowing portion before it opened up with a small hologram of a man appearing.

[[If you are getting this message, you are the new wielder of Project Unity, these arms are much more than standard prosthetics as you have access to various ''modes'', to access one just call it out, I'll start you off with one of my personal favourites, Pyro Mode!]]

As the man said that Ryan was suddenly wreathed in flames as ports along his arms opened to vent out more flames, as the inferno died down Ryan noticed orange lines along his arms leading to his hands, with a newfound determination he shouted out " Exeitor get out of the way!"

As soon as Exetior heard that he jumped out of the way of the Beowolf as it saw Ryan before leaping out to its intended prey, not noticing that Ryan was putting his arms together as the ports on his palms open up and glow with heat.

"INCINERATE!" Ryan shouted out as a large jet of flames blasted out of his palms and engulfed the Beowolf and passed on reducing the forest behind it to ashes.

[[Song End]]

* * *

Beacon Academy: One of Remnant's most prodigious academies was being prepared for both returning and new students alike and in the headmaster's office was Beacon's headmaster Ozpin and his deputy headmistress and Combat Teacher Glynda Goodwitch.

"The Main Hall has been prepared for the new students Ozpin." Glynda reported as the headmaster drank his coffee "Good, I am looking forward to seeing the new students, Miss Rose especially."

"Yes although I'm still sceptical of your decision to enlist her so early" Glynda admitted.

Ozpin responded "While it's true I've invited her to Beacon two years early, I've done it for a good reaso-"

Ozpin's answer was interrupted by a loud blast as both he and Glynda look out the window of his office to see a large wave of fire jet out of the Emerald Forest, Ozpin takes a drink of coffee before smiling " It seems that Miss Rose won't be the only latecomer don't you think Glynda?"

* * *

[[Data Entry 1:

Name: Ryan Wilson

Species: Faunus: Fox

Age: 17

Universe of Origin: Earth Prime

A young man of human origin who's entire physique was altered by Universal Transfer.

Semblance: Kinetic Battery: A unique semblance which allows the user to siphon off the kinetic energy of their surroundings and store it within their body for later use uses include: Recharging Aura, minor Pyrokinesis and Cryokinesis, Enhancing Speed and Strength.

Weapon(s): Project Unity (Weapon of Choice), Fury, Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, Chrono Rinnegan]]

[[Data Entry 2:

Name: Exetior

Species: Arch-Demon of Sharpness (Formerly Highest)

Age: Indeterminate

Universe of Origin: Nightmare Beginning Mobius

An Arch-Demon of Sharpness who descended for going against his fellow Highest, amassing an army of demons to go against his former peers alongside Wave-Demon Negagen and Pervision.

Semblance: Unknown

Weapon(s): Indeterminate]]

[[Data Entry 3:

Species: Grimm

Sub-Species: Beowolf

Universe of Origin: Remnant

The most common Sub-Species of Grimm, Beowolves at a young age have no relatable behavioural traits to normal wolves including a sense of Self-Preservation, but gain similar behavioural traits to wolves with age including the aforementioned Self-Preservation, observing their allies, retreating when needed and developing strategies for future encounters against Huntsmen and other threats.

Weapon(s): Claws and Fangs

]]

[[Data Entry 4:

Name: Project Unity: Pyro Mode

This Mode allows for the weaponisation of Project Unity's exhaust ports to unleash powerful blasts of fire at minimum: 5,000°C and at maximum: 20,000°C while making the user highly resistant to heat and fire-based attacks.

]]

* * *

Footnote:

This will be a part of a large fan work created solely for fun and before comments are made:

Ryan's Sharingan and Rinnegan were from Sasuke's body at the end of the Death Battle episode Sasuke VS Hiei, hey he won't be needing them anymore.

Pyro Mode will be taking some Inspiration from Genos' Incinerator Cannons from One Punch Man.


	2. Chapter 2: Introductions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DISCLAIMER:  
> RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth and Sonic.EXE Nightmare Beginning is owned by JaizKoys, please support both of these.

Once the flames died down from the blast, Ryan sunk down into a sitting position as he watched his handiwork.

"W-wow that was awesome but that was kinda overkill, right Exetior?" Ryan asked as the Demon in question walked to him who was bruised in places from the Beowolf.

"Well it at the very least did the job." Exetior responded as Ryan got up "Perhaps you could use that mode to find somewhere we can stay for the time being."

A voice spoke up behind them "That will not be necessary." Both Ryan and Exetior turned to the source of the voice to find two people, one of them, most likely the owner of the voice, was a grey haired man in a black suit, green vest and black pants holding a cane carrying an air of wisdom despite his age and next to him was a blonde woman with wearing thin glasses, a white top and black skirt and similar to the man held an air of authority. The man spoke again confirming the voice was his "I believe introductions are in order, I am Ozpin, Headmaster of Beacon Academy and this -" he gestured to the woman next to him "is Beacon's combat teacher Professor Glynda Goodwitch."

Ryan responded "I am Ryan and this is Exetior." gesturing to Exetior "I guess your here due to the damage I did to the forest then?" he sheepishly added.

"Yes but not for the reason you're expecting." Ozpin answered "We're here to offer the both of you a place at Beacon, you both have the potential to be great Huntsmen."

Exetior showed confusion as he looked to Ryan "Huntsmen?" he asked.

"People who kill Grimm like that Beowolf for a living." Ryan explained.

"Correct." Glynda responded with a nod "The pair of you will be studying in the academy alongside fellow Huntsmen-in-Training both in traditional knowledge and combat ability. We will be expecting you two at Beacon next week by Airship." As she said that she and Ozpin turned to go back to Beacon before Ryan called out "Is there a place we can stay until then? because we'd rather not stay here for a week and put up with Grimm."

Ozpin smiled "Vale is not that far from Beacon, in fact Beacon is in it, follow us then."

* * *

1 Week Later

* * *

"In all honesty I'm interested in what Beacon has in store for us, what about you Exetior?" Ryan ask as he and Exetior are riding a Airship to Beacon.

"Really I'm more curious of the other students Ryan." Exetior said as he looked at the other students including one blond haired girl hugging a smaller black haired girl. "Especially those two."

Ryan looks to where Exetior is looking at "The black haired girl does look a bit young to be in beacon, doesn't she?" Ryan promptly shook his head "Nonetheless ain't nothing gonna dampen my mood!"

As if on cue a blonde student, hunched over and groaning runs to the back of the ship, Exetior looks at Ryan expectantly "I still stand by my previous statement."

* * *

[[Data Entry 5:

Name: Ozpin

Species: Human

Age: Unknown (Within Middle-Age range)

Universe of Origin: Remnant

Headmaster of Beacon, Earned his role due to his compassion, creativity and skill as a Huntsman.

Semblance: Enhanced speed, reflexes and strength

Weapon(s): The Long Memory (Weapon of Choice)

]]

[[Data Entry 6:

Name: Glynda Goodwitch

Species: Human

Age: Unknown (Within Middle-Age range)

Universe of Origin: Remnant

Combat Teacher of Beacon and Ozpin's Right Hand Woman, shows exemplary skill with her semblance.

Semblance: Telekinesis

Weapon(s): The Disciplinarian (Weapon of Choice)

]]

[[Data Entry 7:

Name: Airship

A large transportation vehicle designed to carry students to Beacon Academy

]]


	3. Chapter 3: Initiation (part 1)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DISCLAIMER:  
> RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth and Sonic.EXE Nightmare Beginning is owned by JaizKoys, please support both of these.

As the doors to the airship opened the blonde student from earlier runs to the nearest bin as he empties his stomach. While the rest of the students walk out and towards the Academy.

"You know what? Beacon certainly looks better when there are people actually here." Ryan stated when he got off. "I can't argue with that Ryan." Exetior added.

"Actually, my friends are here. Gotta go catch up. 'Kay, see ya, bye!" Ryan and Exetior turn to see the black haired girl from earlier in a disoriented spin. "Wait, where are you going?! Are we supposed to go to our dorms? Where are our dorms? Do we have dorms?" She then stops spinning but is still disoriented "I don't know what I'm doing..."

"Should we help her?" Ryan asked Exetior who shrugged "She'll recover." 

"What are you doing?!" Both Ryan and Exetior jumped at that when they saw a white haired girl start to lay into the younger girl while roughly shaking a vial of red dust in front of her until the younger girl sneezed causing the dust to detonate into a blast of fire, snow and lightning of which causes a vial of dust to fall at Ryan's feet.

"Hopefully I can salvage this for the kid." Ryan says as he picks up the vial and walks to the group which now had another black haired girl involved who also seemed to find a vial "Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Dust Company, one of the largest producers of energy propellant in the world."

The white haired girl, that seemed to be Weiss smiled smugly at the recognition until the black haired girl continued "The same company infamous for its controversial labor forces and questionable business partners."

"Wha- How dare- The nerve of..." Weiss sputtered until Ryan came over and interjected "Hang on, I did some research that the company is only like that due to it's current CEO and that it was very respected prior."

"O-oh uh thank you uh-" Weiss stammered.

"Ryan Wilson" Ryan introduced himself "And in the case of her," Ryan gestured to the younger black haired girl "What she did was a complete accident if anything else."

All semblance of anger in Weiss declined to simple annoyance "F-fair enough." she muttered before walking off.

"Could have been better, but it'll do." Ryan conceded before turning to the younger black haired girl and asking "You okay?"

"Oh y-yeah thanks, I'm Ruby." The girl now known as Ruby responded

"Ryan." Ryan said as a familiar face walked up.

"Hey... I'm Jaune." The guy known as Jaune introduced himself

"Ryan" "Ruby" Ryan and Ruby responded in kind before Ryan continued "Wait, aren't you the guy that threw up on the ship?"

* * *

"All I'm saying is that motion sickness is a much more common problem than people let on!" Jaune explained while Ryan and Ruby were laughing their lungs out.

Ruby was the first to recover and respond "Look, I'm sorry! Vomit Boy was the first thing that came to mind."

"Oh, yeah? What if I called you Crater Face?" As soon as Jaune said that Ryan was laughing even harder.

"Hey, that explosion was an accident!" Ruby indignantly retorted

Jaune continued "Well, the name's Jaune Arc! Short, sweet, rolls off the tongue - ladies love it!" Ryan catches his breath before responding "Are you sure?"

"Well, I-I hope they will. My mom always says that... Never mind." Jaune sheepishly replies.

"So... I got this thing!" As Ruby says that to break the silence she pulls out a scythe larger than she is and stabs it into the ground.

Ryan and Jaune gape at it before Jaune talks "Whoa! Is that a scythe?"

"It's also a customizable high-impact sniper rifle!" Ruby adds.

Jaune attempts to respond "A-wha...?" so Ryan explains for him "It's also a gun."

"Oh. That's cool!" Jaune manages to get out before Ruby asks "So what've you got?"

"Oh! I, uh..." Jaune starts before pulling out a sword "I got this sword!"

"Ooooohh!" Ruby eyes up the sword before Jaune continues "Yeah, and I've got a shield, too!" as he says that he pulls out the sword's scabbard and raises his arm for the scabbard to turn into a shield.

"Hmm, so what do they do?" Ryan asks as Jaune fumbles with his shield before answering "The shield gets smaller, so when I get tired of carrying it, I can just... put it away..."

"Wait... wouldn't it weigh the same?" Ryan wonders as Jaune slumps dejectedly "Yeah, it does..."

"So what about you Ryan, whats your weapon?" Ruby asks in anticipation when Ryan grins "Actually I have two;" he says before unsheathing his sword from his back.

"Wait you have a sword too?" Ruby asks confusedly

"Yeah, but while in anyone else's hands, Fury just a sword whereas it plays an important use for my second weapon" Ryan explains before sheathing Fury and showing Project Unity "My prosthetic arms which I call Unity, allow me to use various Modes in battle and by scanning stuff I can gain better modes."

"W-wow that sounds amazing but how does Fury become part of it?" Ruby asks.

"Well I can extend Unity's Modes to Fury for precision in fights. But it doesn't mean I have an exploitable weakness." Ryan answers before yelling out "Pyro Mode!" causing him to be wreathed in familiar flames much to Ruby and Jaune's shock before the fire dies down revealing Ryan once more "See?" Ryan smugly asks as Ruby and Jaune gawk at him before he reverts back to normal.

"Anyway where did you get that scythe in the first place, Ruby?" Ryan asks.

Ruby recovers before explaining "Well, I'm kind of a dork when it comes to weapons, sooo... I guess I did go a little overboard when designing it."

"Wait - you _made_ that?!" Jaune asks in surprise.

"Of course! All students at Signal forge their own weapons! Didn't you make yours?" Ruby asks before Ryan explains "I don't actually know who gave me Fury and Unity, Ruby." afterwards with Jaune also responding "Mine's a hand-me-down. My great-great-grandfather used it to fight in the war."

"Sounds more like a family heirloom to me!" Ruby says before laughing "Well, I like it! Not many people have an appreciation for the classics these days."

"Yeah, the classics..." Jaune says as he resheaths his sword.

"So Ryan, why'd you help me out back there? In the courtyard?" Ruby asks.

"Well what you did was an honest mistake and I wasn't gonna stand there and watch Weiss throw it back in your face." Ryan explains

"Hmm." Ruby says before looking around "Hey, where are we going?"

"Oh, I don't know! I was following you." Jaune says "Y-You think there might be a directory? Maybe a food court? Some kind of recognizable landmark? Is, uh... Is that a 'no'?" Ryan laughs before saying "Probably not."

* * *

[[Data Entry 8:

Name: Ruby Rose

Species: Human

Age: 15

Universe of Origin: Remnant

A prodigious huntress-in-training who was enlisted to Beacon, two years early, courtesy of Ozpin.

Semblance: Petal Burst

Weapon(s): Crescent Rose (Weapon of Choice)

]]

[[Data Entry 9:

Name: Weiss Schnee

Species: Human

Age: 17

Universe of Origin: Remnant

Heiress to the Schnee Dust Company, one of the biggest suppliers of Dust on Remnant, can be stubborn to others.

Semblance: Glyphs

Weapon(s): Myrtenaster (Weapon of Choice)

]]

[[Data Entry 10:

Name: Blake Belladonna

Species: Faunus: Cat

Age: 17

Universe of Origin: Remnant

Defector of White Fang organisation who came to Beacon to find another way for Faunus to be treated as equals.

Semblance: Shadow

Weapon(s): Gambol Shroud (Weapon of Choice)

]]

[[Data Entry 11:

Name: Jaune Arc

Species: Human

Age: 17

Universe of Origin: Remnant

Student of Beacon who came to follow the legacy of the Arc family.

Semblance: Unknown

Weapon(s): Crocea Mors (Weapon of Choice)

]]

[[Data Entry 12:

Name: Crescent Rose

A hybrid scythe/sniper rifle designed and built by Ruby Rose and Qrow Branwen and based off of Qrow's signature weapon Harbinger

]]

[[Data Entry 13:

Name: Crocea Mors

An heirloom passed down the Arc family line since the Great War, due to existing before hybrid weapons came into play, Crocea Mors comes as a sword and shield with the shield doubling as a scabbard for the sword

]]

[[Data Entry 14:

Name: Fury

A specialised ninjaken designed to work in tandem with Project Unity and is capable of being enhanced by Project Unity's Modes

]]


	4. Chapter 4: Initiation (Part 2)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DISCLAIMER:  
> RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth and Sonic.EXE Nightmare Beginning is owned by JaizKoys, please support both of these.

"Ah, we're finally here." Ryan said as he, Ruby and Jaune entered the auditorium before he asks "Do either of you have somewhere to be here?"

Ruby was about to answer before a voice called out "Ruby! Over here! I saved you a spot!" leading to Ryan, Jaune and Ruby to turn to see both the blonde haired girl from earlier and Exetior waving to them.

Ruby turns to Jaune and Ryan before saying "Oh! Hey, I-I gotta go! I'll see you after the ceremony!" Ruby begins to leave before Ryan joins her "Hang on, a friend of mine is with her, so you ain't getting rid of me that easily." Ryan says as he and Ruby leave Jaune on his own.

"Hey, wait!" Jaune attempts to call out before sighing "Ah, great. Where am I supposed to find another nice, quirky girl to talk to?!" as he moves on a red haired girl watches as he walks away.

* * *

"How's your first day going, little sister?" The blonde haired girl asks before Ruby retorts "You mean since you _ditched_ me and I _exploded_?"

"Yikes! Meltdown already?" the blonde haired girl asks before Ruby clarifies "No, I _literally_ exploded a hole in front of the school! And there was some fire, and I think some ice...?" the blonde haired girl starts smiling before asking again "Are you being sarcastic?"

"No, she is entirely serious about it as I can vouch." Ryan interjects as Ruby continues "I tripped over some crabby girl's luggage, and then she yelled at me, and then I sneezed, and then I **exploded** , and then she yelled at me again, and I felt really, _really_ bad, and I just wanted her to stop yelling at me!" as Ruby is talking Ryan turns his head around to see Weiss right behind them looking very unamused.

" **You!** " Weiss growls out causing Ruby to comically jump into the blonde haired girl's arms as she gripes "Oh, God, it's happening again!"

"You're lucky we weren't blown off the side of the cliff!" Weiss squawked as the blonde haired girl deadpans "Oh my God, you really exploded." 

As Ruby gets down from the blonde haired girl's arms before explaining "It was an accident!" before Weiss hands her a pamphlet, which Ryan and Exetior to look at the cover with Ruby.

"DUST for dummies and other Inadequate Individuals, what's this?" Exetior asks as he, Ryan and Ruby look back to Weiss who started to explain going faster and higher pitch as she goes "The Schnee Dust Company is not responsible for any injuries or damages sustained while operating a Schnee Dust Company product. Although not mandatory, the Schnee Family highly encourages their customers to read and familiarize themselves with this easy to follow guide to Dust applications and practices in the field."

Ryan and Ruby both look at each other in confusion before Ruby tries to respond but couldn't, causing Weiss to ask "You really wanna start making things up to me?"

"Absolutely?" Ruby answers with uncertainty before Weiss points to the pamphlet "Read this, and don't ever speak to me again." at this point the blonde haired girl stepped in and said "Look, uh, it sounds like you two just got off on the wrong foot. Why don't you start over and try to be friends, okay?"

Ruby's eyes lit up as she put the pamphlet away "Yeah! Great idea, sis!" she said before turning to Weiss "Hello, Weiss! I'm Ruby! Wanna hang out? We can go shopping for school supplies!" 

"Yeah! And we can paint our nails and try on clothes and talk about cute boys, like tall, brunette, and _robotic_ over there!" Weiss said sarcastically while gesturing to an unaware Ryan who responded "Wait, me?"

"Wow, really?!" Ruby asked eagerly before Weiss shut her down " **No.** " everyone's attention was diverted to the stage as Ozpin was readying the microphone with Glynda standing next to him.

"I'll... keep this brief." Ozpin started "You have travelled here today in search of knowledge, to hone your craft and acquire new skills, and when you have finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people. But I look amongst you, and all I see is wasted energy, in need of purpose, direction." Ryan and Exeitor look at each other before looking back to Ozpin "You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step."

As Ozpin leaves, Glynda steps up to continue "You will gather in the ballroom tonight; tomorrow, your initiation begins. Be ready. You are dismissed." as she finishes that sentence, the blonde haired girl turns to Ruby, Ryan and Exetior "He seemed kind of... off."

Ryan responded with "Yeah, almost as if he had something else on his mind as well." afterwards he turns to see Jaune approaching Weiss "I'm a natural blond, you know!"

As Weiss puts her hand to her face in annoyance, Ryan laughs at the attempt at a pick-up line.

* * *

Later in the night all the new students were in evening-wear as they socialised with each other, Ryan walked up to Exetior, with his jeans as the only article of clothing on him catching the eye of a few female students along the way, much to his hidden pride.

"So how was today for you Exetior?" Ryan started as he sat down.

"Before or after you ditched me?" Exetior snarked causing Ryan to flinch as his second ears folded down "Sorry, I just wanted to help Ruby with her problem."

"Hmph, well after you ditched me, I wandered around Beacon looking for the auditorium, of which I met Yang over there." Exetior said jabbing a thumb towards the blonde haired girl talking to Ruby "She was able to guide me to the auditorium, afterwards we talked about you and Ruby until you both showed up, what about you?"

Ryan proceeded to tell Exetior about him dealing with Weiss for Ruby, them meeting Jaune and the three of them showing their weapons.

"I can only imagine the looks on their faces when you showed them Pyro Mode." Exetior said while smirking afterwards while Ryan was scratching the back of his head "Yeah, if their mouths were open any longer, I think flies would have flown in."

Exetior laughed before continuing "Well we both seem to have had an eventful day so shall we end it?" after saying that Exetior lies down to sleep.

"Sure." Ryan responds before covering himself in his tails in a ball.

* * *

[[Data Entry 15:

Name: Yang Xiao Long

Species: Human

Age: 17

Universe of Origin: Remnant

Elder half-sister to Ruby, instead of long range, Yang employs a close range fighting style complimented by her weapon and semblance.

Semblance: Burn: This unique semblance takes direct damage to the user's aura and uses it to enhance the user's strength, doesn't improve Aura.

Weapon(s): Ember Celica (Weapon of Choice)

]]


	5. Chapter 5: Initialisation (Part 1)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DISCLAIMER:  
> RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth and Sonic.EXE Nightmare Beginning is owned by JaizKoys, please support both of these.

As morning begins Ryan and Exetior begin to remove their gear from their lockers.

"Hey, are you wondering what initiation is gonna be, Exetior?" Ryan asks as he sticks his arms through his hoodie while Exetior responded "Yes but even now I still have no confirmed idea but considering this is a combat academy, it probably won't be a written test."

As Ryan laughs at the comment, the intercom activates "Would all first-year students please report to Beacon Cliff for initiation? Again, all first-year students report to Beacon Cliff immediately." Glynda announces.

"Well we better get going then." Ryan says as he shuts his locker before he and Exetior leave.

* * *

On Beacon Cliff, Ryan and Exetior along with the rest of the new students were waiting on silver tiles lining the cliff in front of Ozpin and Glynda.

"For years, you have trained to become warriors, and today, your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest." as Ozpin says that, Ryan and Exetior look to each other and smirk, remembering what happened a week ago before turning to see Glynda start to speak "Now, I'm sure many of you have heard rumors about the assignment of "teams." Well, allow us to put an end to your confusion. Each of you will be given teammates... **today**." Ryan nods in understanding before Ozpin speaks again "These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time here at Beacon. So it is in your best interest to be paired with someone with whom you can work well." _"_ _Good point"_ Ryan thinks to himself before Ozpin continues "That being said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years."

"Hmm, kinda luck based don't you think?" Ryan asks Exetior who simply nods before Ozpin starts again "After you've partnered up, make your way to the northern end of the forest. You will meet opposition along the way. Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path... or you **will** die."

 _"Gee, thanks for the vote of confidence headmaster."_ Ryan snarked in his head.

"You will be monitored and graded through the duration of your initiation, but our instructors will not intervene. You will find an abandoned temple at the end of the path containing several relics. Each pair must choose one and return to the top of the cliff. We will regard that item, as well as your standing, and grade you appropriately. Are there any questions?" as Ozpin finished, Jaune raised his hand "Yeah, um, sir?"

" **Good**! Now, take your positions." Ryan snickered as Ozpin ignored Jaune's question before the tile Ryan was standing on sunk down before he was launched, but before any excitement could begin a large black bird caught Ryan by the arms with it's talons and flew off much to the shock of Ruby, Yang, Weiss and Jaune and the exasperation of Exetior.

"U-Um is he going to be okay?" Jaune asked before Exeitor answered with a smirk "Honestly, you should be more worried about the Nevermore that took him." before Exetior's tile launched him into the Emerald Forest.

* * *

 _"Hmm, not how I was expecting initiation to begin for me, really."_ Ryan thought to himself as the Nevermore carried him to it's nest. _"Had to stop an argument, got lost and now I've been kidnapped by a giant bird."_ his thoughts were cut short as the Nevermore dropped him into it's nest, causing him to tumble ungracefully into the edge of the nest.

As Ryan winced the Nevermore loomed over him with it's unwavering red eyes, Ryan searched his pockets to try and find something to distract it, before pulling out a bar of chocolate.

 _"You know what, fuck it, what have I got to lose."_ Ryan thought to himself as he opened the bar and offered it to the Nevermore, which slowly leaned closer as it took the bar out of his hand and ate it, before getting closer to him and sniffing him.

"Uh, if you're looking for more, that was the only one I had." Ryan said, leading the Nevermore to raise it's head...

...to start nuzzling Ryan with it's beak.

_"Wait a minute, it's preening me?"_ Ryan thought in confusion as the Nevermore stopped "Okay if you can understand me, could you fly me near there?" Ryan asked, pointing to Beacon, the Nevermore turned to look before turning back and lowering it's body.

 _"Well, beats being carried by my arms again."_ Ryan thought as he climbed onto it's back and gripped it's neck as support before the Nevermore flapped it's wings and took off to fly towards it's new destination.

 _"I wonder how the others are doing."_ Ryan thought to himself as they flew off.

* * *

 _"I wonder how Ryan is_ _doing."_ Exetior thought to himself as he leapt through the Emerald Forest, tearing apart Ursa and Beowolves left and right before stopping "Now where would these relics be?" Exetior asked himself before coming across a cave.

"I'll be damned if the cliche of ''relic in a cave'' is happening before me." Exetior says as he walks through the cave into a large temple with empty pedestals all around, "Wow, I was right _and_ too late." he sighed in exasperation before leaving the temple.

"Great, now I have to tell Ryan when I find him that the relics are gone no-" " **I can't take it anymore! Can everyone just chill out for two seconds before something _crazy_ happens again?!**" Exetior wasn't able to finish his sentence when he heard yelling that he could only recognise as Yang.

Exetior ran through the forest to end up seeing Yang, Ruby, Weiss, Jaune, the black haired girl from yesterday and two new people he didn't recognise; the first was a young man with black hair and the other was a ginger haired girl.

"We meet again." Exetior revealed himself as the group turn to see him "Exetior?" Yang responded in surprise as Exetior brushed himself off.

"Since you're alone, guess you haven't found Ryan yet?" Ruby asked before Exetior responded "No, but I'm certain that he'll show up soon."

"Hey guys!"

Everyone turned to the voice to see a Nevermore fly towards them, but what really caught their attention was Ryan riding it down to them with a smug grin.

"Hmm, even now you never cease to surprise me." Exetior said as Ryan dismounted the Nevermore after landing "What, were you expecting I would kill him?" Ryan retorted while gesturing to the Nevermore before noticing the others "Why are they staring at me like that?"

Weiss recovered before stepping towards Ryan "Would you explain how you were able to ride THAT?" she asked referring to the Nevermore.

"Well after being swiped by Monty," he said pointing a thumb to the Nevermore "-he carried me to his nest, and while the easy option would have been to torch him, I would still have been lost in the Emerald Forest, so I searched my pockets for an alternative and found a bar of chocolate, and I decided "what the hell" and offered it to him, turns out to have worked cause instead of eating me, he was preening me, and I asked him if he could give me a ride and we later on found you guys."

"I- Uh- Wha-" Weiss couldn't make a sentence after hearing Ryan's story when Ryan's attention was diverted to a red haired girl being chased by a giant scorpion and asking "What about her?"

As soon as Ryan said that, the red haired girl jumps out of the way of the scorpion's stinger but manages to land on her side at the feet of the heroes.

"Great! The gang's all here! Now we can die together!" Yang sarcastically quips before Exetior rushes it before saying "We are NOT dying now! Ryan get on Monty and fly up!"

"No need to ask me twice!" Ryan responds before remounting Monty and flying up, as he rises his right hand glows at the back "Huh?"

[[Scan complete: New Mode and Utility unlocked.]]

"New Mode and utility?" Ryan questions before refocusing.

* * *

[[Song: Meet Thy Maker - DAGames]]

"Hmph, It's finally time to give my Semblance a shot!" Exetior exclaims as he avoids a claw swing by the scorpion and jumps back to prepare.

"May the Chains of Malice bind you. Soul Link!" as Exetior talks, his right arm turns black as he punches the ground causing chains of a similar colour to burst from the ground and trap the scorpion, once complete, Exetior shouts out "Ryan, NOW!"

"Got it!" Ryan responds as he jumps from Monty's back and readies a punch, not noticing either the blue energy flowing around him nor the silver arm and rib-cage forming around him, as he throws the punch the extra arm punches in unison, with the force tearing through the scorpion's carapace as blue energy explodes around them both causing everyone to shield their eyes.

[[Song end]]

As the dust clears, everyone opens their eyes to see Ryan kneeling in a crater, breathing raggedly and the extra arm resting on the ground, as he opens his eyes they widen as he sees the rib-cage and arm around him before he gets up.

"Okay this is new." the phrase was all Ryan could say as he examined the arm before it dissipated, afterwards he turned to everyone "So shall we head back?"

* * *

[[Data Entry 16:

Species: Grimm

Sub-Species: Nevermore

Universe of Origin: Remnant

Avian Grimm capable of attacking from above with their beak, talons and can fire their feathers as spears.

]]

[[Data Entry 17:

Species: Grimm

Sub-Species: Death Stalker

Universe of Origin: Remnant

A large Grimm scorpion that uses it's golden stinger to lure in unsuspecting prey and can use it and it's claws to defend or attack.

]]

[[Data Entry 18:

Semblance: Soul Link

User: Exeitor

When using Soul Link the user can create any number of chains made of energy to defend, attack or bind opponents

]]

[[Data Entry 19:

Name: Susano'o

User: Ryan Wilson

With a Mangekyo Sharingan or it's Eternal variant, the User can construct armor made of spiritual energy of which can be as simple as a rib-cage for defence or arms for covering extra angles in battle, or as complex as a suit of armor many times larger than the User.

]]


	6. Chapter 6: Initialisation (Part 2)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DISCLAIMER:  
> RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth and Sonic.EXE Nightmare Beginning is owned by JaizKoys, please support both of these.

Silence flowed through the group as they walked through the Emerald Forest back to Beacon until Ruby spoke up "What was that large arm Ryan?"

"If I was a betting man, that must have been Susano'o that I used on that Death Stalker." Ryan answered swiftly before Yang asked as well "Susano'o?"

"Susano'o works similarly to Aura really, by constructing armor made of spiritual energy to defend but instead of fuelling one's Semblance like Aura does, Susano'o takes a more 'direct' approach as you saw from earlier." Ryan explained before remembering "Oh Exetior, Unity seemed to have unlocked new functions for me during the fight."

Exetior looked to Ryan in surprise "Seriously, what is it?" Exetior asked as Ryan tapped the back of his right hand.

[[New Mode unlocked:

Vortex Mode

Element: Air

New Utilities unlocked:

Flight

Function: Rear ports in shoulders will now fire jets to allow for up to 5 hours of constant flight.

Grapple Arm

Function: Project Unity can now launch it's hands, tethered to the rest of it, to pull the User to points of interest or pull opponents to the User.

]]

"Hmm, new Mode, can now fly and can use my hands as grappling hooks, well I'll test them out when we get back." at that sentence the group continued walking.

* * *

"Jaune Arc. Lie Ren. Pyrrha Nikos. Nora Valkyrie. The four of you retrieved the white rook pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team JNPR." Ozpin announces as the newly christened team are lined up back at Beacon "Led by... Jaune Arc!"

Ryan could see the surprise on Jaune's face as Ozpin announced that _"Quite deserving really."_ Ryan thought as Ruby, Yang, Weiss and the black haired girl stepped up.

"Blake Belladonna. Ruby Rose. Weiss Schnee. Yang Xiao Long." Ozpin says as he gestures to the four "The four of you retrieved the white knight pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team RWBY. Led by... Ruby Rose!" 

Ryan and Exetior smiled as Yang hugs her sister in pride before Ozpin continues "Ryan Wilson. Exetior. The pair of you didn't retrieve a relic for initiation, would you explain?

"Gladly, Headmaster." Exetior began "After Ryan was taken by the Nevermore, I went through the forest, knowing he could handle it, when I found the temple but unfortunately there were no relics of any kind there anymore."

"I understand." Ozpin responded "So for you two, I will allow you to decide on which teams you will be on for your time at Beacon."

Ryan and Exetior's eyes widened due to them not expecting that response before recollecting themselves "Due to familiarity, while we are partners, me and Exeitor will be separate members of teams RWBY and JNPR respectively." Ryan requested while Exetior nodded.

"Of course" Ozpin agreed before announcing "It has been decided. Ryan Wilson will be an extra member of Team RWBY, while Exetior will be the same for Team JNPR." as the crowd of students cheered Ozpin turned back to Ryan and Exetior "I wish you good luck for your time at Beacon." Ozpin congratulated to them before they walked to their new teams.

 _"It looks like things are shaping up to be an... interesting year."_ Ozpin thought to himself amidst the students' cheers.

* * *

[[Data Entry 20:

Name: Project Unity: Vortex Mode

Vortex Mode allows the user to tear through stone and barriers with hyper compressed air while granting Improved speed.

]]

[[Data Entry 21:

Name: Flight

Through diverting energy through Project Unity's shoulder ports, the user can achieve temporary flight for up to 5 hours, needs to recharge for up to 20 minutes depending how long flight is used.

]]

[[Data Entry 22:

Name: Grapple Arm

The User can now fire Project Unity's hands as tethered projectiles, to pull themselves to points of interest or pull caught opponents to them.

]]


	7. Chapter 7: Unprepared Preparation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DISCLAIMER:  
> RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth and Sonic.EXE Nightmare Beginning is owned by JaizKoys, please support both of these.

Ryan never considered himself a 'morning person', if anything, if he had his way he would sleep through the end of the world, so one could imagine his irritation when his new leader blew on a whistle to wake everyone up.

"Good morning, team RWBY!" Ruby gleefully called out as Ryan poked his head out of the makeshift cocoon he made with his tails "What's with the *yawn* early wake-up Ruby?" Ryan asked as he rubbed his eyes.

"Now that you're awake, we can officially begin our first order of business." Ruby continued.

"Excuse me?" Weiss said as she appeared to have had a rude awakening like Ryan did, before Yang showed up carrying a wide assortment of items and explained "Decorating!"

"What?!"

As Weiss squawked, the black haired girl, Blake lifted her suitcase "We still have to unpack." once Blake said that her suitcase opened spilling the contents on the floor before she added "Aaaand clean."

Neither Weiss nor Ryan showed any enthusiasm before Ruby blew her whistle again "Aaaalright! Weiss, Blake, Yang, Ryan, and their fearless leader Ruby have begun their first mission!" she said before raising her fist to the air "Banzai!"

Blake and Yang join her and do the exact same thing "Banzai!" Ryan joins in as well "Banzai!" he called out halfheartedly before the five of them start decorating the dorm, shortly after Ryan did his part of placing a box of stress toys on the windowsill, he and the rest of Team RRWBY step back to admire their work before Ryan realises one thing.

"What are we gonna do with the beds?" as Ryan asked that, the girls realised all their beds were cramped in the centre of the floor.

"This isn't going to work." Weiss stated.

"It is a bit cramped." Blake admitted.

"Maybe we should ditch some of our stuff..." Yang assumed before Ryan thought to himself _"Over my dead body, am I getting rid of my stress toys."_

"Or we could ditch the beds... and replace them with **bunk beds**!" Ruby offered.

"Umm, that sounds incredibly dangerous." Weiss stated in worry.

"And super- _awesome_!" Yang added in excitement.

"It _does_ seem efficient." Blake concedes.

"And it would save us having to get rid of our stuff." Ryan admitted in relief before Weiss spoke again "Well, we should put it to a vote!"

"I think we just did." as Ruby said that Blake thumbs up the idea, Yang makes a double-rocker gesture, Ryan gives a thumbs up with Susano'o, and Weiss angrily curls her fists at her side. Decided, the five rush at the beds as they turn them into bunk beds.

"Objective: Complete!" Ruby says as the team look at the beds; Weiss' bed was simply on the ground next to her art and luggage, Blake's bed was next to her books, which were used to raise Yang's bed over it by placing the novels on the posts, and Ruby's was hanging from ropes on the ceiling with a blanket used as a tent over it.

"Pretty good for a few minutes of work." Ryan mumbled to himself before Ruby started "Allllright! Our second order of business iiiiiiiis...!" as Ruby said that she sat on her bed with a book falling to her lap "Classes..." she stated while pulling out a pencil "Now, we have a few classes together today. At 9, we've got to be-"

" _What?!_ Did you say 9 o'clock?" Weiss interrupted Ruby as she tried to speak "Uuuum..."

"It's 8:55, you dunce!" Weiss called out as she ran out of the dorm to class as the remaining members of Team RRWBY and Team JNPER peeking out from their doors as Weiss runs before Ruby collects herself "To class!" Ruby calls out as the team run after Weiss.

"Class...?" Jaune and Exetior call out as they lose their balance and topple as the remaining members; Pyrrha Nikos, Lie Ren and Nora Valkyrie fall on top of them.

Exetior and Jaune scramble out of the pile and sprint off to class "We're gonna be late!" Jaune panics as he and his team run after Team RRWBY

* * *

"Monsters! _Deeeemons_... Prowlers of the night! Yes, the creatures of Grimm have many names, but I merely refer to them as **prey**! Ha-ha!"

After the whole panic of possibly being late to class, Team RRWBY managed to make it to class but ended up showing varying levels of interest of the lesson taught by Professor Port with Blake and Yang paying attention, Weiss taking notes of the class, Ruby napping before being woken up by Port's joke and Ryan taking notes of his current abilities.

"Uhhhh... And you shall too, upon graduating from this prestigious academy! Now, as I was saying: Vale, as well as the other three kingdoms, are safe havens in an otherwise treacherous world! Our planet is absolutely _teeming_ with creatures that would love nothing more than to tear you to pieces! And that's where we come in. Huntsmen! Huntresses..." as Professor Port said that, he winked at Yang, disturbing her before he continued "Individuals who have sworn to protect those who cannot protect themselves! From what, you ask? Why, the _very world_!"

Once he said that, a student near the back raised his fist and cheered before sitting down embarrassed when everyone looked at him before Port continued.

"That is what you are training to become. But first: A story. A tale of a young, handsome man... Me! When I was a boy..."

Ryan stopped paying attention when Port began his story, more focused on what other things his arms could be capable of.

 _"When me and Exetior first came here, I gained access to Pyro Mode, when we were fighting that Death Stalker, I gained access to Vortex Mode, Flight and the Grapple Arm, I've barely scratched the surface of what Unity is capable of."_ Ryan thought to himself before paying attention to class once more.

"The moral of this story? A true Huntsman must be honorable!" Port started "A true Huntsman must be dependable!" Ryan noticed Weiss beginning to get angered by Ruby "A true Huntsman must be strategic, well-educated, and wise! So, who among you believes themselves to be the _embodiment_ of these _traits_?"

Before Weiss could respond, Ryan put up his hand and spoke "I don't fit the mould of a true Huntsman entirely Professor, but I strive to protect those who can't protect themselves, valuing their lives before my own."

Port smiled behind his moustache at the answer Ryan had given "A valuable goal Mr Wilson, shall we find out?" Port said gesturing to the glowing red eyes surrounded by shadow shaking the cage that trapped it "Step forward, and face your opponent!"

Ryan got up from his seat to go and change from his uniform to his casual getup before slinging Fury in its sheath over his back before getting in fighting stance as his teammates cheered him on.

"Goooo, Ryan!" Yang whooped while raising her fist.

"Fight well!" Blake encouraged while waving a small flag with the team's name on it.

"Yeah, represent Teeeeam RWBY!" Ruby called out causing Ryan to turn his head to his teammates and smile before looking to Weiss who had her arms crossed and was looking away.

"Allllright!" Port calls out before pulling out a hybrid of battle-axe and blunderbuss "Let the match... _begin_!"

[[song: MegaMania - Brandon Yates, Sithu Aye]]

Right as he said that, Port swung his weapon down, breaking the cage's lock and freeing its occupant, a large boar-like Grimm Ryan recalled to be a Boarbatusk which as soon as it saw Ryan, charged at him eliciting Ryan to evade the charge by jumping out of the way before narrowing his eyes, waiting for its next move of which the Grimm kept its distance while studying him.

"Ha-ha! Wasn't expecting _that_ , were you?" Port spoke before Ruby called out to Ryan "Hang in there, Ryan!"

Ryan acknowledged Ruby before leaping at the Boarbatusk with Fury, only for the Grimm to curl into a ball to block against the sword to Ryan's surprise before he leapt off as it began to roll.

"Bold, new approach. I like it!" Port commented as Ruby called out again "Come on, Ryan, show it who's boss!"

As Ruby said that the Boarbatusk began to roll at Ryan, who despite managing to block it, ended up losing his grip on Fury as it embedded itself in the ground behind the Grimm.

"Oh-ho! Now what will you do without your weapon?" Port asked rhetorically as the Boarbatusk tried rolling at Ryan again, only for Ryan to leap over it to retrieve Fury.

"Ryan! Go for its belly! There's no armor underneath!" Ruby called out causing Ryan to give a thumbs up in response as the Boarbatusk had decided to simply pounce on Ryan, only for Ryan to duck and counter with an uppercut to the stomach using Susano'o, launching it upwards before Ryan leapt up after it to press on his advantage.

Ryan re-sheathed Fury before redrawing it with more force than normal to cut through the Boarbatusk's armor and split it in half, then following up with a flurry of non-stop slashes to reduce the Grimm to black pieces before landing as the pieces fell behind him in a messy heap while he re-sheathed Fury once more.

[[song end]]

"Bravo! Bra-vo! It appears we are _indeed_ in the presence of a true Huntsman-in-training!" Port calls out as Ryan gets up while Port looks at the clock "I'm afraid that's all the time we have for today. Be sure to cover the assigned readings, and... stay _vigilant_! Class dismissed!"

Ryan catches Weiss glaring at both him and Ruby before turning away and leaving.

"Sheesh, what's with her?" Jaune asked as Teams RRWBY and JNPER were thinking the exact same thing.

* * *

"Weiss!"

As Weiss was storming off, she heard the voices of the last two people she wanted to see before turning around to see Ryan and Ruby catching up to her.

"What?"

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Ryan started "Why are you being-?"

"What's wrong with me? What's wrong with _you_?" Weiss interrupted before turning to Ruby "You're supposed to be a leader, and all you've been so far is a nuisance!"

Ruby scoffed before asking "What did I do?"

"That's just it - you've done _nothing_ to earn your position!" Weiss retorted "Back in the forest, you acted like a child, and you've only continued to do so!"

"And you!" Weiss directed her attention back to Ryan "You haven't spent even a bit of time realising how naive your reason for being a Huntsman really is!"

"Weiss, where is this coming from?" Ruby asked "What happened to all the talk about 'working together'? I thought you believed in acting as a team."

"Not a team led by _you_." Weiss retorted "I've studied _and_ trained. And quite frankly, I deserve better." as she turned to leave Ruby attempted to reach out to her before stopping once Weiss finished her reasoning "Ozpin made a mistake."

Ryan decided to simply walk back to the team's dorm while Ruby stayed.

* * *

Ryan waited as night fell as Yang, Blake and Ruby returned with the latter beginning to study, as time passed the three girls had all fallen asleep long before Weiss came back and stood on her bed to see Ruby while apologising for what she said to her.

Ryan went outside while the pair were talking and as Weiss came out, Ryan spoke, startling her "You were right, you know? About how naive my reason for being a Huntsman is."

"Ryan, I'm-" Weiss didn't finish the sentence when Ryan continued "I can see your reasoning for what you said to me now. So how about I explain better why my reason for being a huntsman is what it is?"

At Weiss' nod Ryan began.

"You see, unlike you and the rest of our team, me and Exetior aren't from Remnant, in fact Exetior's appearance is only skin deep."

"Wait, so you're-"

"Aliens? Technically yes, but not from this universe, I hail from a planet known as Earth, there are no Grimm nor Faunus, We didn't have dust and we achieved space flight in the mid-20th century." Weiss' eyes widened but aside from that she let Ryan continue "But we have suffered our own problems like Remnant has: You fight Grimm whereas we fought each other, war on Earth has happened for many reasons; Race, Opinions, Wealth. It won't end but aside from groups like the current White Fang, Remnant is united against the Grimm rather than divided against each other."

Ryan stopped before he continued.

"While I wasn't a victim of war unlike many unfortunate people, I was a victim of intense bullying."

"Intense bullying?"

"I had malicious thoughts not out of place in insane criminals because of it, and my temper didn't help matters. The people who bullied me always got satisfaction from tormenting me due to me having no way of stopping it. I _hated_ that feeling of helplessness I felt at the end of everyday _and_ had to put up with it for four consecutive years. So being brought here with Unity and Fury and my abilities both current and future became the best opportunity to never be helpless again and prevent the same from happening to other good people." as Ryan finished tears had shed from his eyes before he wiped them away "Exetior was even worse. Long before he and I came here he was a member of a race of divine beings, colloquially known as 'Highests', their job was to govern Exetior's universe without being known while contending with demons, literal demons. Exetior disguised himself as one of the most powerful types of Demons, a Demon of Sharpness to enter the Mortal realm undetected, but sadly he was found out and went from being disguised as a Demon of Sharpness to being a true one."

"You both have this as a second chance, don't you?" Weiss asked.

"Got it in one Weiss, and we ain't wasting it."

"I do have one question though."

"Shoot."

"You said that there were no Faunus on Earth yet here you are, why is that?" Weiss inquired

"Even now I don't know how I became a Faunus Weiss but frankly I don't mind." Ryan answered with a smile before looking to the door "I'll head back in. I still need my sleep. Good night Weiss."

"Good night Ryan." and with that Ryan went back in to the dorm while Weiss wandered off with a new found respect for him and Exetior.

* * *

[[Data Entry 23:

Name: Peter Port

Species: Human

Age: Undefined (within Elder-Age range)

Universe of Origin: Remnant

Teacher of Grimm Studies at Beacon, can get caught up in telling stories about his past.

Semblance: Unknown

Weapon(s): Blowhard (Weapon of Choice)

]]

[[Data Entry 24:

Name: Blowhard

A Hybrid weapon combining a battleaxe and blunderbuss, unlike modern weapons both features can be used in tandem with one another.

]]

[[Data Entry 25:

Species: Grimm

Sub-Species: Boarbatusk

Universe of Origin: Remnant

Large Grimm reminiscent of boars, this Grimm's primary attack is also its best defence, by curling into a ball, it can roll at high speed towards Huntsmen while protected by its shell, its weakness is its unarmored underbelly.

]]


	8. Chapter 8: Oblivious Truth

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DISCLAIMER:  
> RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth and Sonic.EXE Nightmare Beginning is owned by JaizKoys, please support both of these.

"So! There we were, in the middle of the night..."

"It was day."

After combat class during lunch, Nora decided to tell the rest of Teams RRWBY and JNPER of a dream she had while Ren toned down the exaggeration of it, with the members at varying levels of interest; Yang was hanging on to every word, Ruby, Pyrrha and Exetior were listening politely, Weiss and Blake weren't paying attention, Ryan simply ate his food and Jaune was playing with his.

"We were **surrounded** by Ursai..."

"They were Beowolves."

"Dozens of them!"

"Two of 'em."

"But they were no match... And in the end, Ren and I took them down and made a boatload of Lien selling Ursa skin rugs!" Nora finished triumphantly to which Ren sighed before explaining "She's been having this recurring dream for nearly a month now."

"Jaune? Are you okay?" Pyrrha asked her team leader as she and Ruby turned to him as he snapped out of his stupor before answering "Huh? Oh, yeah! Why?"

"It's just that you seem a little... **not** okay..." Ruby explained as everyone else turned to Jaune.

"Guys, I'm fine. Seriously! Look!" Jaune tried to explain with a thumbs up as proof before his and everyone else's attention was diverted to a group of boys, Ryan recalled to be Team CRDL, bullying a rabbit-eared Faunus girl with the leader, Cardin Winchester, pulling on the girl's rabbit ears with one of the others, Sky Lark, doing a mocking imitation of said ears with his hands.

Ryan gritted his teeth before unintentionally snapping the fork he was holding in two, then got up calmly before speaking in an equally calm tone that belied his anger "One moment please?" before walking to the group.

"Ow! That hurts!" the rabbit-eared girl cried out before begging "Please, stop..."

"I told you it was real!" Cardin stated while laughing as another of his cronies, Russel Thrush, added "What a freak!"

The four of them continued until Cardin yelped as he had one of his ears yanked on "Ow!"

"Now now, it isn't very nice to pick on others you know?" Ryan asked in a falsely tranquil tone as he continued tugging on Cardin's ear.

"Hey let go asshole!" Cardin pleaded before Ryan smirked as he said "As you wish." before tossing Cardin three feet in the air onto a table containing a bowl of strawberry trifle, caking the would-be bully in strawberry jelly and cream.

Cardin took a second to respond to the feat of strength before his surprise gave way to anger as he yelled out to his teammates "Hey don't just stand there, give me a hand!"

[[song: Let's Play Co-Op - Ray Casarez]]

The rest of Team CRDL snapped out of their shock before attempting to attack Ryan all at once with no one noticing the cocky grin that graced his lips.

Russel threw the first punch which Ryan parried before retaliating with an open palm strike to the gut, knocking Russel back, Sky attempted to attack Ryan from behind, only for Ryan to intercept with an elbow jab to his face before grabbing Sky's arm and throwing him towards a defenceless Russel, whose body took the impact as they flew backwards.

The fourth bully, Dove Bronzewing, managed to land a punch on Ryan's jaw before his eyes widened in shock as Ryan laughed the hit off and said "Thank you sir. May I have another?" before grabbing on to the extended arm and kneeing Dove in the stomach, as he was reeling from the hit, Ryan connected an elbow drop onto the back of Dove's head, flooring him.

[[song end]]

"You know, I'm kinda disappointed." Cardin's eyes turned from his subdued team to Ryan as he began "After you floored Jaune back in combat class _and_ harassed her," Ryan gestured to the rabbit-eared girl before continuing "I thought that you and your team could backup your bullying, but it seems that you idiots are simply all bark and no bite with your abilities and skill. So do everyone here a favour; Grab your friends and piss off." Ryan hissed the last sentence with more venom than a King Taijitu, causing Cardin and his battered teammates to pick themselves up and run off, not before Cardin got off one last sentence "You only won cause we didn't have our weapons!"

Ryan hmphed before walking to the rabbit-eared girl and asking "You okay?"

The girl's rabbit ears perked up before she responded "O-oh yes, thank you, u-uh-"

"Ryan. Ryan Wilson." Ryan answered for her "And yours?"

"Velvet. Velvet Scarlatina."

"Well Velvet, you won't need to worry about those four again, if they're smart." Ryan explained "But if they do come back, just give me a call."

At Velvet's nod, Ryan walked back to his table to hear Pyrrha talking "Jaune, Cardin's been picking on you since the first week of school!"

"Who? Cardin Winchester? Nah... He just likes to mess around! You know, practical jokes!" Jaune tried to defuse the conversation until Ruby responded "He's a _bully_."

"Oh, please! Name _one_ time he's 'bullied' me."

Exetior began "He has constantly knocked your books out of your hands."

Ren continued "He jammed your shield in a doorway."

Ryan finished as he sat down "And he once stuffed you in a locker and made it fly off with you inside. On a related note, did not know they could do that."

Jaune tried to laugh those statements off before talking "I didn't land far from the school!"

"Jaune, you know if you ever need help, you can just ask." Pyrrha told Jaune before Nora gave her piece "Ooooh! We'll break his legs!"

"Guys, really, it's fine! Besides, it's not like he's only a jerk to _me_ ; he's a jerk to everyone." Jaune tried to wave off their concern before Ryan interjected "Jaune, the only ones Cardin and his goons go for aside from you are Faunus, there's being an asshole and then there's bullying."

Yang turned to Ryan "Speaking of which, you had no reason to help her when they were going for her and you were risking a lot by doing it, so why did you?"

"Simply put, I had to put up with that kind of thing for four years back home, so I ain't standing idly by, watching it happen here." Ryan answered with a frown. "Honestly I despise people like him."

"He's _not_ the only one..." Blake stated while glaring where Cardin left.

"It must be hard to be a Faunus." Yang wondered, leaning on her hand.

* * *

History was a give or take with Ryan, either he would enjoy it or become bored by it, but thanks to Doctor Oobleck, he wasn't able to enjoy it at his own pace but wasn't bored.

"Yes! Yes, prior to the Faunus Rights Revolution--more popularly known as the Faunus War humankind was quite, quite _adamant_ about centralizing Faunus population in Menagerie." as Oobleck said that he pointed to a map of Menagerie with his stick "Now! While this must feel like ancient history to many of you, it is imperative to remember that these are relatively _recent_ events! Why, the repercussions of the uprising can still be seen to this day!" he continued zipping around and drinking some coffee before talking again "Now! Have any among you been subjugated or discriminated because of your Faunus heritage?"

As Oobleck asked that Ryan turned to see a multitude of Faunus students raise their hands, including Velvet albeit hesitantly.

"Dreadful, simply dreadful! Remember, students, it is _precisely_ this kind of ignorance that breeds violence!" Oobleck stated before sipping his coffee "I mean, I mean, I mean just look at what happened to White Fang! Now, which one of you young scholars can tell me what many theorize to be the turning point in the third year of the War?" Weiss raised her hand to respond "Yes?"

"The battle at Fort Castle!"

"Precisely! _And_ , who can tell me the advantage the Faunus had over General Lagune's forces?"

Before Ryan put his hand up he saw Cardin about to flick a paper ball at Jaune who was asleep, before the ball hit its mark Ryan uttered one command in his head.

_"Kamui!"_

Causing the paper ball to be stored for later use, much to Cardin's silent shock and Ryan's satisfaction as he raised his hand.

"Yes Mr Wilson?" Oobleck acknowledged.

"It was that the Faunus had night-vision wasn't it?" Ryan answered as Cardin scowled at his head.

"That is correct, Mr Wilson. Many Faunus are known to have nearly-perfect sight in the dark. General Lagune was inexperienced, and made the mistake of trying to ambush the Faunus in their sleep. His massive army was outmatched, and the general was captured." Oobleck stopped his continuation when he saw Cardin get up from his seat "Mr. Winchester! Please take your seat." he requested before turning to Ryan "You definitely have a keen eye in history Mr Wilson. If you weren't training to be a Huntsman, you'd make an excellent history teacher."

"In all honesty I wouldn't have the attention span needed for a career like that Doctor." Ryan responded truth fully.

As Oobleck continued on, Ryan gently nudged Jaune awake "W-wha?"

"Best pay attention Jaune. I saved you from being made a fool of yourself by Cardin." Ryan quietly explained while jabbing his thumb towards Cardin,

"Oh uh thanks." Jaune whispered as Ryan gave a thumbs up in response.

"Now! Moving on!"

* * *

"Hey Pyrrha." Ryan called out.

"Yes Ryan?"

"I think I have an idea for how to help Jaune." Ryan stated before whispering said idea to Pyrrha whose eyes lit up "That would be perfect Ryan."

"Just ask him to go to the roof with you before you tell him the idea." At Pyrrha's nod Ryan walked back thinking the whole 'Cardin bullying Jaune' scenario would be all fixed.

If only he knew how wrong he was.

* * *

[[Data Entry 26:

Name: Cardin Winchester

Species: ~~Asshole~~ Human

Age: 17

Universe of Origin: Remnant

Leader of Team CRDL, spends free time harassing Faunus students.

Semblance: Unknown

Weapon(s): The Executioner (Weapon of Choice)

]]

[[Data Entry 27:

Name: Russel Thrush

Species: ~~Asshole~~ Human

Age: 17

Universe of Origin: Remnant

Member of Team CRDL, like Cardin, spends free time harassing Faunus students.

Semblance: Unknown

Weapon(s): Shortwings (Weapon of Choice)

]]

[[Data Entry 28:

Name: Dove Bronzewing

Species: ~~Asshole~~ Human

Age: 17

Universe of Origin: Remnant

Member of Team CRDL, like Cardin, spends free time harassing Faunus students.

Semblance: Unknown

Weapon(s): Hallshott (Weapon of Choice)

]]

[[Data Entry 29:

Name: Sky Lark

Species: ~~Asshole~~ Human

Age: 17

Universe of Origin: Remnant

Member of Team CRDL, like Cardin, spends free time harassing Faunus students.

Semblance: Unknown

Weapon(s): Feather's Edge (Weapon of Choice)

]]

[[Data Entry 30:

Name: Velvet Scarlatina

Species: Faunus: Rabbit

Age: 18

Universe of Origin: Remnant

Second Year student of Beacon and member of Team CFVY, spends most of free time taking pictures of other weapons.

Semblance: Photographic Memory

Weapon(s): Anesidora (Ammo: Photos of Weapons) (Weapon of Choice)

]]

[[Data Entry 31:

Name: Bartholomew Oobleck

Species: Human

Age: Undefined (Within Middle-Age Range)

Universe of Origin: Remnant

History teacher of Beacon, regularly hyperactive, prefers to be referred as Doctor Oobleck.

Semblance: Unknown

Weapon(s): Antiquity's Roast (Weapon of Choice)

]]

[[Data Entry 32:

Name: Kamui

User: Ryan Wilson

Kamui is another technique exclusive to the Mangekyo and Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, Kamui's uses include; Transferring objects, people, attacks and even the User to and from a pocket dimension and turning the User intangible temporarily.

]]


	9. Chapter 9: Fearful Serenity

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DISCLAIMER:  
> RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth and Sonic.EXE Nightmare Beginning is owned by JaizKoys, please support both of these.

_"You know, of all things, Forever Fall is quite an on-the-nose name for this place really."_ Ryan thought to himself as the class walked through the Forever Fall forest, taking note of the autumnal look of the place before Glynda spoke.

"Yes, students, the forest of Forever Fall is indeed beautiful. But we are not here to sight-see. Professor Peach has asked all of you to collect samples from the trees deep inside this forest, and I'm here to make sure none of you die while doing so." Glynda stated before Ryan heard a grunt, turning to see Jaune carrying a large box and 6 jars bump into Cardin.

 _"I thought my plan would have worked."_ Ryan frowned at the sight before turning back to Glynda "Each of you is to gather one jar's worth of red sap. However, this forest is full of the creatures of Grimm, so be sure to stay by your teammates. We will rendezvous back here at 4 o'clock. Have fun!"

Ryan headed off with his team, still wondering what Cardin's game was.

* * *

Team CRDL were making themselves comfortable as they didn't need to work since Jaune retrieved 6 full jars of red sap for them, setting the jars down before collapsing face first on the ground.

"Hey, great work, Jauney boy! Now that wasn't too hard, was it?" Cardin sneered before Jaune, cross-eyed and dizzy, responded "I think I'm allergic to this stuff..."

"Greeeeat, great, great." Cardin responded, uncaring "So, _Jaune_ , I bet you're asking yourself, 'Why did my buddy Cardin ask me to collect _six_ jars of tree sap when there's only _five_ of us?'" 

Jaune, still exhausted, nodded "That is one of the many questions I have asked myself today, yes."

"Well, come with me, and you'll find out." As Cardin said that, Jaune moaned and gulped before following him.

* * *

"Cardin, wh-what's going on?" Jaune asked as he, Cardin and the rest of Team CRDL are peeking from a cliff overlooking Team RRWBY and Team JNPER, as Ryan hums to himself as he fills up two jars with sap, one for the assignment and one for himself if Nora eating a full jar of the stuff was any indication of its taste, before hearing Jaune.

"Payback." Cardin simply stated while Jaune realised what he meant.

"Ryan...?" Ryan listened as Jaune talked "Wh-what are you-?"

Cardin pounded his fist on the ground "That's the guy. Fox-tailed asshole, thinks he can make me look like an idiot. Alright, boys..." he turned to his teammates as he pulled out the box from earlier, now buzzing "Last night, old Jaune here managed to round up an entire box of Rapier Wasps, and now, it's time for some payback."

"Cardin, I'm warning you, Ryan is not one to anger, considering what he did to that Death Stalker in initiation when he was calm, and what he did to your teammates."

"Hmph as if we're gonna back down from a freak like him," Ryan's tails bristled at that comment "Now time to make him the idiot." as Cardin said that he lobbed the extra jar towards Ryan, who was prepared and managed to catch the flying jar without looking, much to Jaune's relief and Team CRDL's shock.

"I thought you would have learned Cardin." Ryan called out as he walked to the cliff the five were on "What was your plan? To cover me in sap and from that buzzing I can safely assume you have procured some Rapier Wasps." Ryan accurately guessed as he quickly climbed up the cliff to see Team CRDL fully "So first off." Ryan said as he knocked the box out of Cardin's hands into the air before slicing it to pieces with Fury "Secondly." Ryan opened the jar and emptied the contents onto Cardin's armor "Good luck with the sap now Winchester." Ryan sarcastically remarked as he and the other five heard a low growl before turning to see large paw crash into the ground, belonging to a large bear Grimm Ryan recalled to be an Ursa, albeit much bigger and having more spikes jutting from its back.

 _"Oh shit. An Ursa Major."_ Ryan thought to himself as said Grimm roared at Cardin while his teammates ran off in terror.

 _"Hearts of lions, they have."_ Ryan sarcastically thought as Cardin attempted to pull his mace out before the Ursa Major swiped it out of his hands.

"Jaune!" Ryan called out, getting Jaune's attention "Keep it off Cardin! I'll go get the others." At Jaune's nod, Ryan ran off to find his team, Jaune's and potentially Professor Goodwitch.

* * *

"Go! Go! Go!" Exetior repeated as he, Ruby, Weiss and Pyrrha ran towards the source of the roar earlier before encountering a friendly face.

"Exeitor, Ruby, Weiss, Pyrrha good to see you four." Ryan called out in relief.

"Ryan where's Jaune?"

"Currently defending Cardin from an Ursa Major, I'll take you to him." Ryan explained as the five headed back to Jaune.

* * *

" _Crap!_ Crap, crap!" were the words to come out of Cardin's mouth as he attempted to crawl away from the Ursa Major while Ryan and the others arrived.

"Oh, no!" Pyrrha called out as the large Grimm readied a paw to flatten the bully, before Jaune stepped in and blocked it with his shield with visible strain.

Weiss was about to step in with Myrtenaster before Pyrrha stopped her "Wait!"

Jaune took his shield out from the Ursa's paw and slashed at its stomach, causing it to lash out and try to crush him. Jaune then rolled out of the way and jumped over its swipe at his feet, but he was unprepared for when it launched a claw at him in midair causing Ryan to flinch from watching. Jaune landed far away, yet was immediately back on his feet and passing Cardin as he charged again. The Ursa knocked Jaune behind it when he tried for a leaping attack Ryan saw Jaune looking at the Scroll in his shield before he grew angry again and started to run at the Ursa as it also dashed at him.

Ryan noticed that Jaune had left himself wide open to attack and saw that Pyrrha noticed too, as she lifted her hand which was surrounded in a dark red aura, Ryan looked back to see Jaune's shield in that same glow rise up to block an incoming swing which while he was surprised, Jaune took advantage of to lean on the ground and push the shield up before slicing through the Ursa Major's neck, the head falling separately from the rest of the body.

Ruby stared in awe as the glow faded from Pyrrha's hand as she smiled "Uhhh... What?"

"How did you...?" Weiss asked in similar amazement before Pyrrha responded "Well, Ruby has her speed, you have your glyphs. My Semblance is polarity."

"Really, Magnetism? Not bad." Ryan admitted as Pyrrha started to leave "Wait, where are you going?"

"Yeah! We gotta tell them what happened!" Ruby added before Pyrrha countered "We could... Or perhaps we could keep it our little secret?" before walking again as Ryan, Ruby, Weiss and Exetior nodded in understanding before following her.

* * *

Later that night, Ryan lied down on the floor of his team's dorm as he sighed "Honestly, I'm glad that this whole 'Cardin' problem is over."

"Yeah, Jaune need that confidence boost after today." Weiss responded as she and the rest of the team sat on their beds.

"Well since Pyrrha revealed her Semblance earlier I might as well reveal my own." Ryan conceded as he sat up.

"Yeah we never saw your semblance, did we?" Yang answered before Ryan held up his hand, blue sparks started crackling around his open hand before a light blue orb of energy formed.

"Woah." was all Ruby could say as the team stared at the orb "This is your Semblance?"

"This is a small fraction of what I can do with it." Ryan answered "My Semblance allows me to weaponize kinetic energy."

"Kinetic Energy?"

"Energy caused by movement. Anything that moves can produce it, but I can absorb and use said energy for multiple uses such as; Enhanced strength, endurance, speed, create energy attacks and even restore my own Aura."

"So you can heal in battle." Blake explained.

"Yes but that leads into its second ability, while your Semblances drain Aura to work, mine doesn't but instead restoring it by converting energy." Ryan continued.

"Kinda broken don't you think?" Yang asked before Ryan dissipated the orb and responded "Don't get me wrong, I still need energy to restore my Aura; No energy, no regen." as Ryan finished, he yawned "Well I better get some sleep now." Ryan finished as he wrapped himself in his tails before falling asleep.

* * *

[[Data Entry 33:

Species: Grimm

Sub-Species: Ursa Major

Universe of Origin: Remnant

After living for a certain point, Ursai develop a larger physique and grow extra spines on their back becoming Ursa Majors, these are smarter and stronger than normal Ursai due to age.

]]


	10. Chapter 10: Disguised Reveal

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DISCLAIMER:  
> RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth and Sonic.EXE Nightmare Beginning is owned by JaizKoys, please support both of these.

"A lot has changed since me and Exetior were first here." Ryan mused to himself as Team RRWBY walked through the streets of Vale, decorated with Red, yellow, and green streamers and balloons for some event that Ryan has no idea of what it is.

Weiss stopped and lifted her arms in amazement "The Vytal Festival! Oh, this is absolutely _wonderful_!"

"I don't think I've ever seen you smile this much, Weiss." Ruby says before frowning "It's kinda weirding me out..."

Weiss turns to Ruby, still smiling "How could you _not_ smile? A festival dedicated to the cultures of the world! There will be dances! Parades! A tournament! Oh, the amount of planning and organisation that goes into this event is simply **breathtaking**!"

As the team continues walking, Yang sighs while crossing her arms "You really know how to take a good thing and make it sound boring."

Weiss's smile temporarily left as she retorted "Quiet, you!"

As the team reach their destination of the docks, Yang asks "Remind me again why we're spending our Friday afternoon visiting the stupid docks?"

"Ugh, they smell like fish!" Ruby added while covering her nose.

"Really? To me, it's homey." Ryan stated with a smile.

"I've heard that students visiting from Vacuo will be arriving by ship today. And, as a _representative_ of Beacon, I feel as though it is my _solemn_ duty to welcome them to this _fine_ kingdom!" Weiss explained before Blake guessed the actual reason "She wants to spy on them so she'll have the upper hand in the tournament."

Weiss scoffs indignantly "You can't prove that!"

"Whoa." the team looked to the direction Ruby was looking and saw a shattered window down the street and a door full of yellow caution tape before they walked over to the detective at the front, who was writing on his pad as Ruby asked "What happened here?"

"Robbery. Second Dust shop to be hit this week. This place is turning into a jungle." the detective explained before walking over to his partner.

Yang sighed sadly "That's terrible."

"They left all the money again." the second detective started

"Huh?" Ryan and Ruby turned their heads to the conversation.

"Yeah, just doesn't make a lick of sense. Who needs that much Dust?"

"I don't know, an army?"

"You thinking the White Fang?" Ryan's second set of ears perked up.

The second detective removed his sunglasses before responding "Yeah, I'm thinking we don't get paid enough."

"Hmph! The White Fang." Weiss said while crossing her arms and sticking her nose in the air "What an awful bunch of degenerates!"

"What's _your_ problem?" Blake asks with subtle annoyance.

Weiss turns to Blake to respond " _My_ problem? I simply don't care for the criminally insane."

"The White Fang is hardly a bunch of psychopaths." Blake counters while crossing her arms "They're a collection of misguided Faunus."

"Misguided? They want to wipe Humanity off the face of the planet!"

"So then they're _**very**_ misguided. Either way, it doesn't explain why they would rob a Dust shop in the middle of downtown Vale!"

"Blake's right." Ryan interjected "Considering past actions, I doubt they would give a small shop like this much thought."

"Besides," Ruby added "the police never caught that Torchwick guy I ran into a few months ago... Maybe it was him."

"That still doesn't change the fact that the White Fang are a bunch of scum." Ryan could feel the rising anger from Blake as Weiss kept talking "Those Faunus only know how to lie, cheat, and steal."

"That's not necessarily true..." Yang tried to help before she was interrupted.

"Hey, stop that Faunus!"

The team rushed back to the docks to see a Faunus with a golden monkey tail running down the length of the boat and leaping on to the edge as two sailors are about to apprehend him.

"Thanks for the ride, guys! Haha!" the Faunus laughs out before jumping off and running across the dock as soon as he landed.

"You no-good stowaway!" one of the sailors called out as the Faunus hung on a lamppost by his tail while he peeled back a banana before talking "Hey! A _no-good_ stowaway would've been caught! I'm a _great_ stowaway!" before he could eat his meal, he had to avoid a stone thrown at him by one of the detectives.

"Hey! Get down from there this instant!" the detective's order was met with the Faunus dropping the banana peel on his face, much to the annoyance of the detective and amusement of Ryan - _"Oh come on, you were set up for_ _that."_ \- before the Faunus twirled into a crouching position on the post, laughing at what he did and jumping off to run away from the detectives and past Team RRWBY, Ryan swore he could saw the guy wink at Blake as he passed.

"Well, Weiss, you wanted to see the competition, and there it goes..." Yang stated as the Faunus got further and further away.

"Quick! We have to observe him!" Weiss announced before she, Yang, Ryan and Ruby went after him, Blake snapped out of her stupor before joining them, they rounded a corner causing Weiss to collide with someone and trip over. When she looked up the Faunus jumped up a building and ran off.

"No, he got away!" Weiss griped.

"Uhh... Weiss?" Ryan pointed to the person Weiss crashed into, causing her to see a smiling girl beneath her, startling the heiress and causing her to frantically get up.

The girl didn't seem to be bothered as she greeted cheerfully "Sal-u-ta-tions!"

"Um... hello." Ruby confusedly responded.

"Are you... okay?" Yang asked, equally confused.

"I'm **wonderful**! Thank you for asking." the girl responded as if she wasn't lying on the floor, causing the team to look at each other in bewilderment before Yang asked again "Do you... wanna get up?"

The girl pondered a bit before responding "Yes!" then leaping to her feet, causing the team to step back a bit before the girl introduced herself "My name is Penny! It's a pleasure to meet you!"

"Hi Penny. I'm Ruby."

"I'm Weiss."

"Blake."

"Ryan."

"Are you sure you didn't hit your head?" Yang asked before Ryan nudged her "Oh, I'm Yang."

"It's a pleasure to meet you!" Penny reiterated.

"You... already said that." Ryan stated.

Penny paused a bit before responding "So I did!"

"Well, sorry for running into you!" Weiss apologised before she and the rest of Team RRWBY start walking away, not before Ruby and Ryan turned back to Penny.

"Take care, friend!" "Good fortune to ya, buddy!"

Once the team were far enough away, Yang spoke "She was... _weird_..."

"Now, where did that Faunus riff-raff run off to?" Weiss asked to herself before seeing Penny in front of her.

"What did you call me?" Penny asked.

"Oh, I'm really sorry, I definitely didn't think you heard me!" Yang apologised.

"No, not you." Penny said before walking through the group to look at Ryan and Ruby " **You!** "

" _Us?_ I-I don't know. I, what we, um, uh..." Ruby stammered.

"You called me 'friend'! Am I _really_ your **friend**?" Penny asked, causing Ruby and Ryan to look over Penny to see their teammates gesturing them to deny that before looking to each other.

Ruby and Ryan turned back to Penny with Ryan responding "Sure! Why not?"

Yang, Weiss and Blake comically fainted whereas Penny looked overjoyed and laughed "Sen-sational! We can paint our nails, and try on clothes, and talk about cute boys!"

Ryan paled at the suggestion before stammering "I-I'm not really down for stuff like that Penny."

Ruby groaned to Weiss as she brushed herself off "Oh, is this what it was like when you met me?"

"No - she seems _far_ more coordinated." Weiss conceded before Yang asked "So... what are you doing in Vale?"

"I'm here to fight in the tournament." Penny stated without missing a beat.

"Wait, _you're_ fighting in the tournament?" Weiss asked surprised.

"I'm combat ready!" Penny answered while saluting.

"Forgive me, but you hardly look the part."

"Uh hello? Pot? Meet kettle." Ryan snarked under his breath while Blake was more louder to point out "Says the girl wearing a dress."

"It's a combat skirt!" Weiss huffed indignantly as she crossed her arms before Ruby speed up next to her "Yeah!" the pair trading a low-five to cement it.

"Wait a minute." Weiss said in realisation before walking to Penny and grabbing her by the shoulders "If you're here for the tournament, does that mean you know that monkey-tailed... rapscallion?"

"The who...?" Penny responded.

Weiss held up a poorly done drawing of the Faunus in question "The filthy Faunus from the boat!"

"Why do you keep saying that?!" "What the hell!?" Blake and Ryan responded in offence.

"Huh?" Weiss said turning to Blake.

Blake walked over to Weiss, Ryan sensing the anger behind it "Stop calling him a rapscallion! Stop calling him a degenerate! He's a person!"

"Oh, I'm sorry." Weiss said as she let go of Penny before continuing "Would you like me to stop referring to the trash can as a trash can? Or this lamppost as a lamppost?" gesturing to the aforementioned objects.

"Weiss, don't." Ryan simply said before Blake responded to Weiss' statement.

"Stop it!"

"Stop _what_? He clearly broke the law. Give him time; he'll probably join up with those other Faunus in the White Fang!"

 _"You know what? I'll just sit this one out. I'm definitely not getting through."_ Ryan thought as Blake clenched her fists and growled out "You ignorant little _brat_!"

Weiss was definitely offended at that remark, but when Blake started to walk away, she followed "How dare you talk to me like that! _I_ am your teammate!"

" _You_ are a judgemental little girl." Blake retorted.

"What in the world makes you say that?" Weiss asks.

"The mere fact that you would sort that Faunus boy with a terrorist group solely based on his species makes you just as much of a scoundrel as you believe him to be!" Blake explains soundly.

"Um, I think we should probably go..." Yang suggested, looking uncomfortable.

Penny popped up next to Ruby blissfully unaware of the situation "Where are we going?"

"So you admit it! The White Fang _is_ just a radical group of terrorists!"

"That's not what I meant, and you know it!"

* * *

 _"Its been fucking hours and they're still going!"_ Was the thought going through Ryan's head as Weiss and Blake continued their argument from earlier in the afternoon in Vale to now in night in the team's dorm.

"I don't understand _why_ this is causing such a problem!" Weiss stated.

"That _is_ the problem!" Blake pointed out.

"You realize you are defending an organization that hates Humanity, don't you? The Faunus of the White Fang are pure evil!" Weiss retorted while getting off her bed, leading Blake to do the same "There's no such thing as pure evil! Why do you think they hate Humanity so much? It's because of people like Cardin, people like _**you**_ , that force the White Fang to take such drastic measures!"

"People like me?" Weiss asked.

"You're discriminatory!"

"I'm a victim!" Weiss countered, causing so much silence one could drop a pin and it would be heard before she leaned towards Blake, leering as she quietly spoke "You want to know _why_ I despise the White Fang? Why I don't particularly trust the Faunus?" Weiss asks before leaning on the window "It's because they've been at war with my family for years. War, as in _actual_ bloodshed. My grandfather's company has had a target painted across its back for as long as I can remember. And ever since I was a child, I've watched family friends disappear; board members executed; an entire train car full of Dust, stolen. And every day, my father would come home, furious. And that made for a very difficult childhood."

"Weiss, I-" Ruby tried to comfort Weiss before getting rebuffed.

"No!" Weiss turns away and walks back to Blake "You want to know why I despise the White Fang? It's because they're a bunch of liars, thieves, and murderers!"

"Well maybe **we** were just tired of being pushed around!"

Silence returned to the dorm Weiss, now surprised, backs away slowly, and Blake realised what she said as she looks around at her teammates.

"I... I..." was all Blake could say before running out the door.

"Blake, wait! Come back!" Ruby ran to the door calling out to her as Yang sat down, Weiss looked down and Ryan closed his eyes in thought.

* * *

Morning dawned as Team RRWBY, sans Blake, walked through the empty streets of Vale.

"She's been gone all weekend..." Ruby mused to her team.

"Blake's a big girl, I'm sure she can handle herself!" Weiss responded apathetically.

"Weiss, come on. She's one of our teammates." Yang stated.

"Is she? We all heard what she said!"

"Weiss." Ruby started before Yang continued "Maybe she is, maybe she isn't. Either way, she's missing, and we need to find her!"

"A member of the White Fang! Right underneath our noses!"

"You know what? That's it!" Ryan stated, completely done with it, startling his teammates "The three of you are all to blame for this situation."

"What did we do?" Weiss asked in complete shock.

Ryan turned to Weiss "You don't seem to get it, do you? You've been treating that guy we met yesterday as if he stole a valuable piece of treasure, for fuck sake, he was simply a stowaway, there was no reason to try and go after him yet you still did." Ryan stated before turning to Yang and Ruby "And you two. You had every opportunity to diffuse the situation between your partners. You barely made an attempt" Ryan gestured to Yang "-and you attempted too late." Ryan stated towards Ruby "I at least tried to diffuse the situation, only stopping when it wouldn't do anything." Weiss, Yang and Ruby looked down in shame before Ryan spoke again "So are we gonna stand here bickering about the past? Or are we gonna go find our friend and teammate?"

The girls looked back up and nodded "Good. Now let's find Blake." at that, the team ran through Vale to find Blake.

* * *

[[Data Entry 34:

Name: Sun Wukong

Species: Faunus: Monkey

Age: 17

Universe of Origin: Remnant

Student of Haven academy and Leader of Team SSSN, Laid back demeanour belies skill in combat.

Semblance: Via Sun

Weapon(s): Ruyi Bang and Jingu Bang (Weapon of Choice)

]]

[[Data Entry 35:

Name: Penny Polendina

Species: Artificial Lifeform: Android

Universe of Origin: Remnant

A unique case of an artificial lifeform with an Aura, allowing Penny to think and feel like a human, social skills leave a lot to be desired though.

Semblance: None

Weapon(s): Floating Array (Weapon of Choice)

]]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> God this was a pain to write, not because of difficulty but because of me accidentally losing the progress I made and restarting again.


	11. Chapter 11: Blackened Bright

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DISCLAIMER:  
> RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth and Sonic.EXE Nightmare Beginning is owned by JaizKoys, please support both of these.

_"Where are you Blake?"_ were the thoughts going through Ryan's head as he ran across rooftops on his own, looking for the girl in question while Ruby, Yang and Weiss checked the ground.

As he leapt onto another building, his second ears picked up a familiar voice.

"So, I left. I decided I no longer wanted to use my skills to aid in their violence, and instead, I would dedicate my life to becoming a Huntress. So here I am: a criminal hiding in plain view, all with the help of a little black bow."

Ryan stopped and looked down to see Blake and the Faunus from before talking, Ryan also noticed the pair of cat ears on Blake's head where her bow was.

 _"I figured you were a Faunus Blake... buuut I didn't want to ask."_ Ryan thought with a smile before listening on.

* * *

A good while had passed as Ryan eavesdropped on Blake's conversation with the Faunus he now knew as Sun, following them from above as they walked down an alley.

"So, what's the plan now?" Sun asked with his hands behind his head.

"I still don't believe the White Fang is behind these robberies. They've never needed that much Dust before." Blake contemplated before Sun gave his piece.

"What if they _did_?" Sun started before lowering his arms and pacing in front of Blake "I mean... the only way to prove that they _didn't_ do it, is to go to the place where they would most _likely_ go to if they _were_ to do it, and not find them there! Right?"

 _"A sound reasoning actually."_ Ryan admitted to himself before Blake talked again "The only thing is, I've no idea where that would be."

"Well, while I was on the ship, I heard some guys talking about offloading a huge shipment of Dust coming in from Atlas." Sun explained.

"How huge?"

" _Huge_. Big Schnee Company freighter." Ryan's eyes widened and his ears perked up at Sun's statement.

"You're sure?" Blake asked.

"Definitely." Sun confirmed.

"Welp. Time to reveal myself before they go off." Ryan said to himself before leaping down into the alley in front of Blake and Sun "Hey Blake."

Blake's ears perked up before she and Sun turned to see Ryan before talking "Ryan! How did you-?"

"Yeah. I was running across the roofs of these buildings looking for you when I overheard you talking. The others are covering the ground separate from me." Ryan explained.

"How much did you hear?" Blake asked nervously.

"I saw you finishing your explanation at the cafe, and I kept listening afterwards until now."

"Wait, so you're not surprised that I'm a Faunus?" Blake asked in confusion

"Nope." Ryan simply answered with a dopey grin "I already figured but didn't want to assume." Ryan's face turned neutral as he spoke again "Whatever this business of proving the White Fang aren't responsible this time, I'll be joining and I won't be taking no for an answer considering he might be assisting too." Ryan gestured to Sun.

"Okay then." Blake conceded, causing Ryan to smile again "Perfect."

* * *

Night fell as Ryan and Blake were watching the shipment of Dust containers before turning to see Sun walking up to them with apples in his arms.

"Did I miss anything?" Sun asked before Ryan shook his head "No. They've shipped the crates off the boat and now they're just sitting there."

"Cool." Sun said before offering one of the apples to Ryan and Blake "I stole you some food!"

"Do you always break the law without giving a second thought?" Blake asked while Ryan snickered in response.

"Hey, weren't you in a cult or something?" Sun countered, causing Blake to glare at him and Ryan to have the most unamused look on his face causing Sun to flinch "Okay, too soon!"

After Sun says that, the wind picks up causing the trio to look back to see a Bullhead search for a landing spot and after landing, opens up to reveal a black hooded person with a mask.

"Oh no..." Blake quietly says.

"Is that them?" Sun asks while Ryan looks at the person's attire to see a symbol of a bloody wolf on their back before Blake responds "Yes... It's _them_."

The person motions to other similarly dressed people in a distinctly male voice "All right, grab the tow cables!"

"You really didn't think they were behind it, did you?" Sun asked a distraught Blake.

"No. I think deep down I knew. I just didn't want to be right." Blake responds while closing her eyes before opening them again after hearing a new voice.

"Hey! What's the holdup!?" Blake, Sun and Ryan turn to see a sharply dressed man in white come out of the Bullhead "We're not exactly the most inconspicuous bunch of thieves at the moment, so why don't you animals try to pick up the pace?"

Blake's eyes narrowed as she spoke "This isn't right. The White Fang would never work with a Human. Especially not one like that." before attempting to walk off the edge of the roof until Ryan stopped her "What are you doing?"

"Making sure you don't do anything reckless." Ryan answered before he readied Fury, motioning Blake and Sun to follow him.

The three sneak past the soldiers, taking care to not get seen as they near the sharp dressed man while he berates a soldier.

"No, you idiot! This isn't a leash!" whatever else the man was about to say was cut off as Ryan reached under his arms and held him by the back of his head "What the- Oh, for f-"

Blake cut the man off as she spoke "Nobody move!" causing all the soldiers to aim all of their weapons at the trio.

"Whoa! Take it easy there, little lady." The man tried to say before Blake removed her bow revealing her cat ears to the soldiers "Brothers of the White Fang! Why are you aiding this scum?"

The soldiers lower their weapons a little, unsure of what to do, before the man laughs.

"Oh, kid, didn't you get the memo?"

"What are you talking about?" Blake asked.

"The White Fang and I are going in on a joint business venture together!" the man explained.

"Tell me what it is or I'll put an end to your little operation." Blake threatened before the wind picked up.

"I wouldn't exactly call it a _little_ operation..." the man said as he, Blake, Ryan and Sun looked up to see two more Bullheads, the man noticed Ryan loosening his grip, allowing him to break free and aim his cane at the trio's feet before firing.

* * *

Penny and Ruby were wandering looking for Blake when they heard a loud noise, turning to see smoke rising from the docks a few buildings away.

"Oh, no..." was all Ruby said before she and Penny ran to the scene.

* * *

"Ugh. This went pear shaped real fast." Ryan grumbled to himself as he parried a sword swing from a soldier before nailing the attacker in his masked face with a straight punch "There was no way we could have seen this coming."

Ryan looked a bit to see Blake and Sun deal with the sharply dressed man before he turned back to dodge under another sword swing before picking up the guy doing it and tossing him at a group of soldiers.

"Okay you fucks!" Ryan called out to the outlying troops "How's about you come at me all at once? You've shown that one of you can't get me, so why don't you all rush me!" as if on cue, the soldiers all dashed at Ryan as he smirked before manifesting an arm with Susano'o to bat the first wave of soldiers away while he dashed at the rest, bodies flew, weapons were broken while Ryan pummelled the soldiers before one got lucky and leapt onto his back with the others following suit to pin him down.

"Perfect." Ryan simply said before calling out "Vortex Mode!" causing the unfortunate soldiers to be launched off Ryan as he was surrounded in a storm of wind, as the storm cleared, Ryan's arms had turbines on the shoulders and forearms with the ports on his palms also becoming turbines as he smirked "Let's go. Wind Cutter!" Ryan crossed his right arm as he spoke, open palmed similar to a salute, before swing it outwards as a crescent blade of wind was formed, bowling down soldier after soldier as it dented a container at the back, Ryan smiled at the scene before hearing another voice.

"Hey!" Ryan turned to see Ruby on the roof of a building with Crescent Rose unfolded, Ryan would have considered her to look like a bad-ass Little Red Riding Hood.

"Well, hello, Red! Isn't it past your bedtime?" the sharply dressed man said while waving as Sun was crouching in front of him.

"Ruby, are these people your friends?" Ryan turned to see the girl from before, Penny, approach Ruby's side.

"Penny, get back!" was all Ruby could say as the sharply dressed man took advantage of her distraction and fired his cane at her, launching Ruby back and disarming her of Crescent Rose as she cried out "AAAAAH!"

[[song: Terrify - Jeff Williams]]

The sharp-dressed man gives an, in Ryan's opinion cliched, evil laugh as his attack met it's mark while Ryan continued looking to see Penny near the edge before a sword popped up from behind her back before it split into multiple swords.

 _"What. The. Balls."_ was all Ryan could think of as he gawked at the now armed Penny before she leapt from the building and into the fray, beating each and every Faunus near her or her swords. A soldier attempted to catch Ryan off guard while he was distracted only for the still mesmerised Faunus to deck the poor sap without taking his eyes off of the ensuing scene.

Three more Bullheads show up and opened fire on Penny, only for the girl to form a shield with her swords and use two of them to pull herself back from the gunfire, Penny's swords moved around her once more before she causes the swords to open their pointed ends, a green sphere of energy forming on each of them, before they all fired bright beams of green energy that cracked the pavement and sliced one of the Bullheads in half, Ryan thought that his jaw would hit the floor as the passengers of said Bullhead and its halves hit the ground behind Penny.

Ryan snapped out of his stupor before he dealt with the second Bullhead, getting his arm prepared, Ryan shouted out "Wind Cutter: Mark 2" before firing a second wind blade that somehow looked sharper than the first, soaring towards the Bull head and slicing its right turbine cleanly off causing it to crash on top of a crate.

[[song end]]

Ryan smirked at the dispatched aircraft before turning to see the third Bullhead, and the sharp-dressed man, fly off with Ryan aiming an arm before lowering it again with a frown.

_"Well two out of three ain't so bad."_

* * *

A good few hours passed as Ryan, Ruby, Blake, Sun and Penny sat on some boxes in silence as the police investigated the scene and detained the unconscious and injured White Fang troops, that is until the silence was broken by Yang and Weiss' appearance.

"Look Weiss, it's not what you think, she explained the whole thing." Ruby started rapidly "See, she doesn't actually have a bow, she has kitty ears and they're actually kind of cute..."

Weiss ignores her partner and leader as she walks to Blake, who calmly looks her down "Weiss, I want you to know that I'm no longer associated with the White Fang. Back when I was with the-"

"Stop!" Weiss cut her off "Do you have any idea of how long we've been searching for you?" she pauses before continuing " _Twelve_ hours. That means I've had twelve hours to think about this. And in that twelve hours, I've decided..."

Yang, Sun, Ruby and Ryan look on worried for Weiss' response.

"I don't care." Everyone was surprised at Weiss' answer, with Blake being the most before talking "You don't care?"

"You said you're not one of them anymore, right?" Weiss stated.

"No, I-I haven't been since I was younger-" Blake tries to start before Weiss stops her "Ah-bah-bah-bah-bah! I don't want to hear it. All I want to know is that the next time something this big comes up... you'll come to your teammates. And not some..." Weiss looks at Sun before finishing "Someone else."

Blake turns to see Ruby and Yang grinning and Ryan smiling gently before wiping a tear from her eye "Of course."

Silence permeates the group only to be ruined by Ruby screaming out "Yeah! Team RWBY is back together!"

The repaired team grouped together before Weiss pointed an accusing finger at Sun "I'm still not quite sure about how I feel about you!" causing the Faunus to laugh nervously.

"Hey, wait a minute... Where's Penny?" the team stopped to see that Penny had disappeared from her seat.

"Damn. I actually liked her." Ryan mused to himself.

* * *

Ozpin was musing to himself as he looked at a live feed of the battle on the docks, paying mind especially to Ruby and Ryan's involvements in the fight, before closing the video feed and opening communications with the only message from the other party being 'QUEEN HAS PAWNS'

"Hmmm..." was all that came out of Ozpin's mouth before he sent a message to the other party 'THERE ARE TWO PEOPLE OF GREAT INTEREST STUDYING AT BEACON, AND I'M NOT TALKING ABOUT YOUR NIECES'

A short amount of time had passed before a response was received 'WHO?' of which Ozpin attached photos of Ryan and Exetior to his next message 'THE TWO IN THE ATTACHED IMAGES ARE THE NEW STUDENTS I'M REFERRING TO; THE FOX FAUNUS GOES BY THE NAME OF RYAN WILSON AND THE HUMAN GOES BY THE NAME OF EXETIOR, FROM RECORDED FOOTAGE THEY MANAGED TO EARN MY INTEREST AND I DON'T WANT 'HER' TO OBTAIN THEM. YOU WILL KEEP AN EYE ON THEM FOR THEIR SAFETY QROW'

The other party responded simply 'GOT IT'

* * *

[[Data Entry 36:

Name: Roman Torchwick

Species: Human

Age: Undefined (Within Middle-Age Range)

Universe of Origin: Remnant

Master criminal and especially skilled in theft and long range combat.

Semblance: Unknown

Weapon(s): Melodic Cudgel (Weapon of Choice)

]]


	12. Chapter 12: Defensive Offense

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DISCLAIMER:  
> RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth and Sonic.EXE Nightmare Beginning is owned by JaizKoys, please support both of these.

"You know Blake? Not once did I try to find something to read from Vale." Ryan stated as he and Blake walked into a bookstore called Tukson's Book Trade.

"You'll enjoy what Tukson has to offer in books." Blake responded with a smile, after hearing that Ryan didn't have anything in the way of readable books, she offered to help him find some material to read, with Ryan disguising Unity with wrappings and winding his tails to look singular in order to avoid unwanted attention.

"What like your Ninjas of Love book?" Ryan snipped as Blake's face went red with embarrassment before they turned towards an adult man with black hair that Ryan assumed to be Tukson.

"Ah Blake, It's good to see you again." Tukson greeted with an air of friendliness towards Blake as her face's colour returned to normal.

"Hello Tukson." Blake greeted as Ryan browsed the shelves for books.

"I'm sorry but my orders for the next Ninjas of Love book aren't here yet." Tukson apologetically said before Blake brushed him off "That's not why I'm here actually. My teammate over there is looking for some books to read and we were hoping you would have some for him to try." Blake explained.

"Ooh a novelised version of Undertale." Ryan eyed up the copy on display "Where I'm from it's a video game so I'm interested what a novel version of it is like."

Tukson smiled as he started "The copy you see is simply a display cover but I can get you a proper copy from the back if you want?" Ryan's smile widened in joy "Oh that would be great, yes."

"Perfect, now follow me as I look for it." Tukson requested Ryan and Blake and as the pair went in to the back of the store, Ryan found the copy he was looking for.

"Found it!" Ryan announced as Blake and Tukson came to see it.

"Good now lets go to the counter so you can buy it." Tukson started before the three heard a bell ring "Oh some more customers, I'll go greet them first. Be right there!" Tukson said before going to the front.

"You said that Undertale was a video game back where you're from." Blake started as Ryan looked at the cover before responding "Oh yeah, there were three main endings to the story; Neutral, True Pacifist and Genocide, I never went for the Genocide route for the sake of my sanity."

Ryan and Blake's conversation was cut short as the pair heard a conversation at the front of the store.

"I hear that you're planning on leaving. Moving all the way to Vacuo." a feminine voice spoke "Your brothers in the White Fang won't be happy to hear that. And neither are we... You know who we are, don't you?" Ryan peeked out to see a pair of people talking to Tukson; One of them which Ryan assumed to be the owner of the voice, was a tan skinned woman with emerald green hair and the other was a man of similar age with grey hair.

"Yes." Tukson answered the woman.

"And you know why we're here?" the woman asked.

"Yes." Tukson answered again.

"So... are you going to fight back?" the woman asked one last time.

"Yes!" as Tukson said that his nails extended to claws before he lunged at the woman, swinging one of his claws.

The woman dodged the impromptu attack and as Tukson looked forward he saw the man lift one of his legs to kick which had a shotgun greave attached to it.

 _"Oh Shit."_ was the only thought to go through Ryan's head before he leapt out and punched the leg out of the general direction of Tukson, shocking everyone else.

"What?" the man exclaimed in shock before Ryan started with a neutral expression "Nice try. But I'm not letting you kill him." Ryan proceeded to kick the man away before turning to Blake "Blake! Get Tukson out of here!" Blake nodded as she grabbed Tukson and got him out of the store.

"Well. We thought that he was alone in his store." the woman started as the man recovered from the surprise attack.

[[song: Exo 2019 - Brandon Yates]]

"Guess we can settle for killing a different Faunus." the man stated before lunging at Ryan with a kick which Ryan crossed both his arms to block, Ryan was surprised to hear a faint clang from the impact which allowed the man to fire from his greave knocking Ryan back into the counter behind him.

Ryan winced from the impact before he lunged at the man, tackling him out the door and into the open street the woman ran out to witness the battle.

The man rushed at Ryan with a flurry of kicks, forcing Ryan on the defensive before he countered by grabbing the man's leg and tossing him into a lamppost.

"Em!" the man called out to the woman "A little help would be nice!"

The woman turned to look at Ryan, causing Ryan to have an odd feeling in his eyes as the man lunged at him from the side, flickering to him attacking head on.

"What the-?" was all Ryan could say as he took a kick to the stomach launching him back as he reeled from the direct hit _"Okay so the woman can cause illusions, well time for that gimmick to be shut down."_ Ryan's eyes focused, causing the illusion to dissipate as he saw the man aim one more kick.

Ryan smiled as he leaned out of the way before clotheslining the man as he went past, causing him to flip onto his back.

"Em! I told you to do something!" the man yelled at the woman.

"I did! But it somehow didn't work!" at that response the man kicked a nearby bin towards Ryan, while he caught it he turned to see the pair had left.

[[song end]]

"Let that be a lesson." Ryan said before hearing a voice behind him.

"You okay Ryan?" Ryan turned to see Blake and Tukson standing in front of him.

"Yeah. But that woman caught me off guard though." Ryan answered.

"How?"

"Don't know. For some reason while I was fighting that man it looked like he was going for me at the side only to hit me square on in the stomach." Ryan explained

"That might have been the woman's Semblance." Blake guessed before Ryan turned to Tukson "You okay Tukson?"

Tukson nodded "Yes. Thanks for saving me from them."

"No problem." Ryan acknowledged before starting "Now without any more distractions, how much is the book?"

Tukson smiled "For saving my life, it's free of charge." Ryan nodded before talking "I think it might be for the best to turn yourself in to the police Tukson. If they were any example, you'll need the police's protection from the White Fang. For the time being at least."

Tukson nodded "Yes that would be a smart choice. Thank you again."

"We'll take you to the station ourselves, to keep you from getting jumped again just in case." as Ryan said that, he, Blake and Tukson walked off towards the Vale Police Station.

* * *

"Whatcha doing?" Yang asked Blake as the latter was looking at a book while the team was together in Beacon's cafeteria.

"Nothing." Blake responded before closing the book "Just going over notes from last semester."

Yang caught a thrown grape in her mouth before speaking "Lame."

Across the table, Nora giggled before using her spoon to toss more grapes at Yang who caught them before giving the hyperactive girl a thumbs up.

The team turned to see Ruby heaving a large binder before slamming it onto the table and clearing her throat to gather the attention of her teammates "Sisters... friends... Weiss."

"Hey!" Weiss shouted indignantly at the singling out as Ryan snickered.

"Four score and seven minutes ago, I had a dream." Ruby started.

"This ought to be good." Yang said before catching another grape in her mouth.

Ruby continued "A dream that one day, the five of us will come together, as a _team_ , and have the most fun anyone has ever had... _ever!"_

Ryan raised an eyebrow at the statement before Weiss cut in "Did you steal my binder?"

"I am not a crook." Ruby retorted while flashing double peace signs.

"What are you talking about?" Blake asked.

"I'm talking about kicking off the semester with a bang!" Ruby stated while pointing her finger at Blake.

"I always kick my semesters off with a _Yang!_ Eh? Guys? Am I right?" the entire team held flat expressions towards Yang's pun before an apple hit her face, causing her to glare at Nora.

"Boooooooo!" Ryan laughed at Nora's response to Yang's joke before Ruby started again "Look guys, it's been a good two weeks and between more exchange students arriving and the tournament at the end of the year, our second semester is going to be great! But, classes start back up tomorrow! Which is why I've taken the time to schedule a series of wonderful events for us today."

"I don't know whether to be proud or scared of what you have in store." Weiss simply stated.

"Maybe both?" Ryan added.

Yang was still glaring at Nora before she threw an apple that missed Nora and hit someone else.

"I don't know. I think I might sit this one out." Blake considered.

"Sit out or not, I think that however we spend this last day, we should do it as a team!" Weiss countered with Ryan nodding in agreement.

" _I_ got it!" Nora shouted.

"I for one think that..." whatever Weiss was about to say was cut off as a pie collided with her face, the team turning to see that Nora was responsible for the pie with Ren having his head in his hand, Pyrrha covering her mouth and Exetior and Jaune staring wide-eyed with Jaune covering his ear with his hand.

* * *

"Well that escalated quickly." Ryan said as he witnessed what could be described as an incredibly awesome and hilarious food fight from behind an over turned table.

"Agreed." Exetior responded next to him before asking "So what happened with you?"

"Well me and Blake went to Vale to get a book for me to read when two people came with the intent of killing the owner of the store we were in." Exetior nodded while frowning as Ryan continued "I stepped in to save the owner and had Blake take him to safety, honestly it was quite challenging this time." Exetior's eyes widened a bit before he asked "How?"

Ryan shrugged "The man wasn't too difficult to deal with, but the woman assisted him with illusions, me and Blake think it might have been her Semblance in play. When I realised this, I shut the illusion down before I could take extra damage but they managed to escape."

Exetior sighed before responding "Well that's a predicament and a half."

"Yeah. Turns out the owner left the White Fang just like Blake so I asked him to turn himself in to the police for his safety." Ryan added.

"Probably for the best." Exetior conceded before their discussion was cut off by a familiar voice.

"Children, please." Ryan and Exetior turned to see Professor Goodwitch and Professor Ozpin at the entrance of the cafeteria with Goodwitch adjusting her glasses before speaking "Do not play with your food!"

Ryan turned to see both his team and Team JNPER covered in different types of food before hearing screaming as Yang fell from the ceiling into a table, causing Ryan to wince before he and Exetior walk to their respective teams.

* * *

"Oh, look! She sent the kids again! This is turning out just like the divorce!" was the voice that greeted Mercury and Emerald as they were held in a group hug by the owner of the voice, Roman Torchwick.

Emerald shivered in disgust before responding "Spare us the thought of you procreating." and with that, she and Mercury escaped Roman's grasp.

 _"That_ was a joke. And _this_... _just_ might tell me where you two have been all day." Roman revealed a piece of paper surprising the pair.

"What!? Agh..." Emerald groaned in annoyance as she recognised the paper.

"I'm a professional, sweetheart. Pay attention, maybe you'll learn something." Roman snarks as he holds up the paper "Why do you have this address?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Emerald spat back rhetorically.

"Yeah, I would. Now where have you been all day?" Roman responded, noticeably annoyed.

"Cleaning up your problems. _One_ of them, at least." Mercury answered.

" _I had that under control._ " Roman hissed.

"Two packed bags and a ticket out of Vale would have said otherwise." Mercury snipped.

"Listen, you little punk." Roman threatened "If it were up to me, then I would take you and your little street rat friend here and..."

"Do _what_ , Roman?" whatever threat Roman had, died in his throat as he turned towards the owner of the voice a woman a few years older than Emerald who stepped onto an automated lift, lowering her down to the trio's level.

"I'd, uh... _not_ kill them?" Roman answered with a hint of fear in his voice.

"Cinder!" Emerald called out excitedly but was ignored by Cinder as she continued with Roman "I thought I made it clear that you would eliminate the would-be runaway."

"I was _going to..._ "

 _"He_ was going to escape to Vacuo! Mercury and _I_ decided to take it upon ourselves to kill the rat." Emerald interrupted.

"I think he was some sort of cat, actually." Mercury mused.

"What? Like a puma?"

"Yeah, there ya go."

"Quiet." Cinder interjected "Did I not _specifically_ instruct you two to keep your hands clean while in Vale?"

"I just thought..." Emerald tried to speak before Mercury interrupted "Yeah about that."

"What happened Mercury?" Cinder asked.

"We tried to deal with the guy but turns out there was another person around."

"Oh."

"Fox Faunus." Roman stiffened at that comment as Mercury continued "He stopped me from executing the guy and was able to deal with us with some problems."

"How did he fare against Emerald's Semblance?" Cinder asked.

"It worked for a bit as I was able to get a direct shot in but that was about it. He somehow saw through Emerald's hallucinations shortly after."

Cinder's eyes widened a bit before returning to their normal gaze "Seems we have a new problem on our hands. Roman." Cinder turned to the master criminal "Try to get as much information on this Faunus as possible."

Roman gulped before responding "I-I already have info on him." Roman then turned to Mercury "Did he fight with his fists?"

"He did."

"It's the same guy then. Cinder this Faunus was able to take down a flying Bullhead with a single swing of his arm, whoever he is, he ain't normal."

"Curious." Cinder mused, now interested "Then if that's the case why didn't he use that sort of power on Emerald and Mercury?"

"Probably to avoid unwanted attention." Roman guessed before turning to Emerald "What did he look like?"

"He had wrappings covering his arms and he had both fox ears and a tail."

"Back at the docks, his arms were uncovered and cybernetic, I'm talking being at least Atlas levels of advancement, and he had nine tails at the time." Roman gave his piece.

"Definitely a threat then." Cinder acknowledged "Mercury, Emerald." the pair turned to her "You will lay low and avoid him, if he can remember your faces that will throw my plan completely off. Roman. You will continue as normal as he wouldn't think to associate you with them."

"O-of course Cinder." Roman answered.

"Good. No one will stand in the way of what I deserve."

* * *

[[Data Entry 37:

Name: Mercury Black

Species: Human

Age: Undefined (Within Late-Teens Range)

Universe of Origin: Remnant

Subordinate of Cinder Fall, prioritises kicks due to his prosthetic legs.

Semblance: Unknown

Weapon(s): Prosthetic legs, Talaria (Weapon of Choice)

]]

[[Data Entry 38:

Name: Emerald Sustrai

Species: Human

Age: Undefined (Within Late-Teens Range)

Universe of Origin: Remnant

Subordinate of Cinder Fall, prioritises influencing minds with her Semblance.

Semblance: Hallucinations

Weapon(s): Thief's Respite (Weapon of Choice)

]]


	13. Chapter 13: Melancholic Joy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DISCLAIMER:  
> RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth and Sonic.EXE Nightmare Beginning is owned by JaizKoys, please support both of these.  
> (Extra Note: From this point onward this disclaimer will apply to all future chapters of this work for simplicity's sake.)

"I wonder what Ozpin wants us in his office for Exetior?" Ryan asked as he and Exetior walked towards the tower that leads to Ozpin's office.

"Your guess is as good as mine but it may have something to do with all these Bullheads around." Exetior responded before they went to the reception desk inside.

Behind the desk was a woman that looked to be in her thirties who had the typical attire for a receptionist. The receptionist greeted the pair "You must be Mr Wilson and Exetior. The headmaster is waiting for you so just go into that lift behind me." she said while gesturing to the aforementioned lift.

"Thank you." Ryan said as he and Exetior walked into the lift as the doors shut.

* * *

"Fortunately we may have an edge over _her_ now James." Ozpin stated to his close companion, the Headmaster of Atlas Academy and General of the Atlesian Military, James Ironwood. The headmasters were discussing the situation of the Bullheads James had brought with him in response to Qrow's statement a few days ago.

"Really? But how?" Ironwood asked.

Ozpin smiled before explaining "A week before Initiation, a torrent of fire razed through the Emerald Forest which attracted the attention of both myself and Glynda." James' eyes widened but he didn't speak "When we reached the site of the event, we encountered two people; The first person, the one who caused the fire, was a Fox Faunus with nine tails and a pair of cybernetic arms. The second was a human that held an air of experience belied by his appearance. When they introduced themselves, I offered them both a position as students of Beacon and in fact I've requested that the pair were to come to my office so you could meet them in person."

The atlesian general thought to himself of what Ozpin said before the comms on Ozpin's desk turned on and a voice spoke.

"Headmaster. Mr Wilson and Exetior are coming soon." came the voice of the receptionist as Ozpin pressed a button "Thank you Cassandra, that will be all."

The doors of the office opened to reveal Ryan and Exetior who had looks of curiosity on their faces.

"You wanted to see us Headmaster?" Ryan asked as he saw Ozpin and a man he didn't recognise.

"Yes. James." Ozpin turned to Ironwood "These are the pair I told you about, Ryan Wilson -" Ryan nodded at his name "-and Exetior." Exetior nodded as well in response "Ryan, Exetior. This is the Headmaster of Atlas Academy and the General of the Atlesian Military, James Ironwood."

Ironwood extended a hand to Ryan "Ozpin has told me quite a bit about you already. Impressive work at incinerating part of the Emerald Forest." Ryan internally groaned as he shook Ironwood's hand _"I'm never gonna live that down am I?"_ "Yes General. But in all honesty I kind of overdid it just to take down a single Beowolf."

Ironwood smiled "At ease. It at the very least got you a position at Beacon, although I am curious, what are those arms of yours?"

"Oh right!" Ryan realised before looking at his arms "These are special devices I collectively call Unity. They grant me a number of different Modes and have special utilities that can be used in conjunction." Ryan turned his head back to Ironwood "Sadly I can't demonstrate these modes here for obvious reasons if that is what you wanted."

Ozpin acknowledged the statement "Do not worry Ryan, You can demonstrate your abilities in the amphitheatre, and could you show James your eyes' abilities while you're at it?"

Ryan and Exetior's eyes widened before Ryan responded "O-of course sir."

* * *

The party of four had walked into the amphitheatre to which Ryan and Exetior saw a set of training robots arranged for the demonstration.

"Now Ryan." Ozpin started causing the man in question to turn to him "I had Professor Goodwitch set these up so you can show a small portion of your skills, so good luck."

[[song: Class Dismissed - Ray Casarez]]

At that, Ryan smiled as he turned to see the robots activate "Okay let's give them a show. Pyro Mode!" familiar flames surrounded Ryan as the robots aimed their weapons only for one to be melted to slag by a fireball fired by Ryan, now in Pyro Mode.

James' eyes widened at the ease of the attack, but didn't say anything as Ryan ran at another of the robots and drew Fury which was now wreathed in flames. With a roar, Ryan sliced the target clean in two before turning to deflect a barrage of rounds from the remaining robots, Ryan smiled as blue energy crackled along his body before he vanished behind a third robot which turned around, only to fall apart a few seconds later.

"Astounding." was all James said before Ryan yelled out once more "Vortex Mode!" causing a storm of wind to flow around him before he jammed his fist through the torso of a fourth robot before calling out "Kamui!" making the robot's head collapse before it disappears from view.

Pulling his arm out of the scrapped robot's torso, Ryan turned as ports on the back of his shoulders opened up with energy blasting out, carrying the Faunus towards another robot as a large silver skeletal arm formed before he punched, dismantling the robot in one hit and causing him to smirk until he got hit in the shoulder by the last remaining robot.

Ryan growled in irritation before turning to it "Time for a new trick. Amaterasu!" Ryan's left eye shed tears of blood as black flames consumed the robot as he turned to the three spectators with a smile while reverting back "So how was that?"

[[song end]]

"Impressive Ryan. That was an excellent showcase for our visitor wasn't it James?" Ozpin said with a smile as James recollected himself "Yes. I can see Ozpin wasn't exaggerating with you."

Ryan smiled in appreciation before turning to Ozpin "How did you know of my Sharingan and Rinnegan's abilities anyway Headmaster?"

"Do not worry about that Mr Wilson. Now don't you two have teams to find?" Ozpin dodged the question.

"Oh right yeah. Come on Exetior let's go." at that, the Faunus and Demon walked off before Ironwood turned to Ozpin "Should we tell them of our plans Ozpin?"

Ozpin closed his eyes and smiled "In due time my friend."

* * *

[[Data Entry 39:

Name: James Ironwood

Species: Human

Age: Undefined (Within Mid to Late Age Range)

Universe of Origin: Remnant

General of Atlesian Military and Headmaster of Atlas academy. Proficient in tactics and combat.

Semblance: Unknown

Weapon(s): Due Process (Weapon of Choice)

]]

[[Data Entry 40:

Name: Amaterasu

User: Ryan Wilson

The highest level Fire Technique, Amaterasu's flames are able to burn everything, including other flames, to ash and can burn for an entire week.

]]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Remember what I said in Chapter 1. Yeah.


	14. Chapter 14: Restored Shattering

_"Ozpin's hiding something."_ Ryan thought to himself as he walked back to his team's dorm _"He somehow knew of my eyes' abilities and dodged my question of how he knew. I will get answers from him."_

Whatever thoughts were going through Ryan's head were interrupted by a voice.

"Lately you've been quiet, antisocial and moody!" Ryan opened his eyes to see the rest of his team inside with Weiss pointing to Blake.

"Uh, have you met Blake?" Yang rhetorically asked which the heiress ignored before continuing "Which I _get_ is kind of your thing, but you've been doing it more than usual! Which quite frankly, is unacceptable! You made a promise to _me_ , to _all of us_ , that you would let us know if something was _wrong_!" Weiss flipped into the air before landing again " _So_ , Blake Belladonna, what is _wrong_!?"

Ryan noticed that Weiss was balancing on the back legs of a chair as she was pointing before she put the chair away and returned to the rest of the team as Ryan walked up to them.

"I just, I don't understand how everyone can be so calm." Blake conceded which led Ruby to approach her before asking "You're still thinking about Torchwick?"

"Torchwick, the White Fang, _all of it!_ Something _big_ is happening and no one is doing anything about it!"

"Ozpin told us not to worry. Between the police and the Huntsmen, I'm sure they can handle it." Yang piped in before being rebuffed by Blake "Well I'm _not!_ They don't know the White Fang like I do!"

"Okay, between blowing up nightclubs, stopping thieves, and fighting for freedom, I'm _sure_ the three of you think that you're _all_ ready to go out and apprehend these ne'er-do-wells!" Weiss asked.

"Uh, who?" Ruby responded, genuinely confused.

"But let me once again be the voice of reason. We're students! We're not ready to handle this sort of situation!"

"Speak for yourself." Ryan countered while crossing his arms " _I_ at least can take out a Bullhead no problem, just ask Ruby and Blake." Ruby and Blake nodded in confirmation.

"We're _not_ ready!" Weiss retorted before Blake countered "And we may never _be_ ready! Our enemies aren't just going to sit around and wait for graduation day." Blake pointed at the door before continuing "They're out there, _somewhere_ , planning their next move, and none of us know what it is, but it's _coming!_ Whether we're ready or not!"

Ruby raised her hand and did a variety of random gestures "Okay, all in favor of becoming the youngest Huntresses to single-handedly taking down a corrupt organization conspiring against the Kingdom of Vale... say aye."

Yang pumped her fist up in excitement before pointing to Blake "Yes! I _love_ it when you're feisty!"

"Well, I suppose it could be fun." Weiss conceded.

"Could be? It _will_ be fun." Ryan stated with a cocky grin.

"None of you said aye!" Ruby pointed out.

"Alright then, we're in this together!" Blake admitted.

"Let's hatch a plan!"

"Yeah!" Yang agrees while pointing double finger-guns at her sister, who gasps before freaking out "I left my board game at the library!"

Weiss places a hand on her head in exasperation "We're doomed."

"Oh god damnit." Ryan snarked in annoyance.

"I'll be right back!" Ruby ran out the dorm before crashing into someone causing Ryan to look out "Oo-oof! Oh g-!" Ruby stops her complaining as she and Ryan see who she crashed into "Sorry. Are you okay?"

Ryan frowned as he saw who it was "I'm fine." a familiar woman offered her hand to Ruby while a familiar man walked up to them "Just watch where you're going."

"Oh, right, sorry." Ruby apologised as she was pulled up to her feet "Um, I'm Ruby! Are you new?"

The familiar woman stepped aside to reveal a different woman walking up to Ruby before speaking "Visiting from Haven, actually."

Ruby and the second woman stared at each other for a bit as Ryan walked up to the group before Ruby spoke " _Ooh!_ You're here for the festival! But exchange students have their own dormitory."

"I guess we just got turned around." The familiar man responded.

"Hey, don't worry, it happens all the time." Ryan answered with false affability "Your building is _just_ east of here."

"Thanks." the second woman responded before gesturing to Ryan and Ruby as she walked past them "Maybe we'll see you around."

"Yeah, maybe!" Ryan acknowledged as the trio walked off before Ruby called out "Oh, uh, and welcome to Beacon!"

* * *

Once the trio were out of earshot of the girl and Faunus, Cinder spoke "Was that him?"

"Yes Cinder." Emerald answered "It seems Roman was right in him trying to avoid attention when he fought me and Mercury."

"Nonetheless if he can somehow resist your semblance he will become a problem if not dealt with."

"But Cinder?" Mercury interjected "He looked like he was barely trying when we fought him, how can we deal with him then?"

Cinder thought to herself before answering "At the moment we just need to be more discreet with our plan. And once it succeeds _I_ can deal with him personally."

Emerald and Mercury nodded in understanding as they continued walking.

* * *

[[Data Entry 41:

Name: Cinder Fall

Species: Human

Age: Undefined (Within Late Teens to Early Adult Range)

Universe of Origin: Remnant

'Employer' to Roman, Emerald and Mercury, bears half of the Fall Maiden's power, displays symptoms of megalomania.

Semblance: Scorching Caress

Weapon(s): Midnight (Weapon of Choice), Fall Maiden's Magic (50% Power)

]]


	15. Chapter 15: Collapse Building

_"I never in my life thought that I would be taking part in an investigation."_ Ryan thought with a smile as he covered his arms with his wrappings before turning to see his teammates each in attire for the situation.

"I thought that class would _never_ end." Blake said as she walked to her bunk while tightening the black ribbons on her arms.

"Alright, guys, today's the day! The investigation _begins!_ " Ruby exclaimed happily before jumping from her bunk onto the floor, almost landing on Ryan and Weiss, the latter on her bunk.

"I'm glad to see we're taking this _so_ seriously." Weiss stated sarcastically.

"Hey, we've got a plan! That's... moderately serious." Yang tried to counter before Ruby started "Right!" she looked to her teammates before continuing "Everyone remember their roles?"

"You and I will head to the CCT and check the Schnee records for any other Dust robberies or inconsistencies. Seeing as I'm in the family, it shouldn't be a problem." Weiss answered as she stood up.

"The White Fang has regular faction meetings to hand out orders and recruit new members. If I can get in, I can hopefully find out what they're planning." Blake stated before Ryan added "I'll be on standby just in case any changes to the plan come up."

"I have an old friend on the shady side of town that typically knows _everything_ going on in Vale. Getting information out of him shouldn't be _too_ hard..." Yang finished causing Ryan to raise an eyebrow to what she said without saying anything.

"Great! We'll meet up tonight near Yang to go over what we found." Ruby pumped her fist before continuing "Let's do this!"

"Yeah!" The team's eyes widened before they turned to the window to see a familiar monkey Faunus hanging upside down by their dorm window.

"Sun!" Blake exclaimed in genuine surprise and alarm before Yang asked "How did you get up there?"

"Ah, it's easy; I do it all the time." Sun answered, not realising what he just said.

"Phrasing." Ryan muttered under his breath with a smirk before Weiss screeched "You do _what?!_ "

"I climb trees all the time!" Sun added without reacting to Weiss' scowl before flipping into the dorm "So, are we finally getting back at that Torchwick guy?"

" _We_ are going to investigate the situation... as a _team_." Blake stated while stepping forward.

"Sorry, Sun. We don't want to get friends involved if we don't have to." Ruby clarified apologetically before Sun blew it off "Psh! That's dumb! We should always get friends involved! That's why I brought Neptune!"

Team RRWBY all lean out of the window to see a man with light blue hair standing on a thin ledge, surprisingly calm despite his position.

"'Sup?" Neptune simply greeted.

"How did you even get up here?" Ruby asked.

"I have my ways." Neptune answered before his tone took a turn for the nervous "Seriously, though, can I come in? We're like, _really_ high up right now."

As Neptune climbed through the window, Ruby started "Alright, I'll go with Weiss; Sun, you can go with Blake." Ruby pushed Neptune past Weiss and Ryan as the fox Faunus saw him wink at Weiss "And Neptune, you can go with Yang since she doesn't have a partner. Everyone good?"

"Actually, Ruby, why don't you go with Yang? After all, she _is_ your sister." Weiss asked.

"But, Weiss, who would go with you, then?"

"Well... I guess Neptune could come with me." Weiss answered as Ryan saw Neptune put on a suave look and point to the heiress before Ruby cracked up "Hahaha, nah!"

Ryan struggled to keep a straight face as Ruby dragged a distraught Weiss out the door as she stammered in futility "But! _But!_ "

* * *

Ryan strolled across Beacon campus, listening to some music on his scroll [AN: for reference is [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYGxSSVWwLo)] as he walked.

 _"Okay this wasn't what I had in mind when I wanted to do an investigation."_ Ryan thought to himself with his eyes closed before he ended up bumping into someone causing him to drop his scroll.

"Oh sorry about that I-" Ryan's attempt to apologise fell short as he saw a familiar girl in front of him pick up his scroll.

"You dropped this." Penny said while handing Ryan's scroll to him as he collected himself "Penny?"

"Uhh..." Penny tried to talk but failed.

"Where have you been? I haven't seen you since that night at the docks!" Ryan stated in surprise.

"S-Sorry. I think you're confused." As she said that, Penny hiccupped before continuing "Uh... I've got to go!"

Penny turned and walked away causing Ryan to stare at her in confusion at her actions before following her.

"Penny! Where have you _been_? It's been weeks!" Ryan tried asking.

"There seems to be a... misunderstanding."

"Wait what?!" was all Ryan said as Penny continued walking "Penny... Is everything okay?" Penny continued walking as if she didn't hear before Ryan grabbed her arm "Penny, please stop!" Penny did just that and turned to Ryan "Look, I don't know what's wrong, but you _have_ to listen to me! Those guys we fought at the docks, we think they're up to something big, something bad! I need you to tell me what happened to you that night! _Please_... As a friend."

Penny sighed before glancing to her sides swiftly then walking to Ryan's side and leaning towards him "It isn't safe to talk here."

As Penny looked around suspiciously while Ryan looked at her in confusion.

* * *

Ryan and Penny walked through the streets of Vale before Penny talked " I wish I could help you, Ryan, but I don't know anything about those men."

Ryan frowned at Penny's answer before responding "Well then, what happened to you that night? We were all together, and then you just up and disappeared! Were you taken?"

"Oh, no! Nothing like that!" Penny clarified.

"Then where _did_ you go?" Ryan asked.

"I've never been to another kingdom before. My father asked me not to venture out too far, but... You have to understand, my father loves me _very_ much; he just worries a lot."

"Hmm. Makes sense." Ryan conceded with a smile which Penny returned before he continued "But why not let us know you were okay?"

Penny's smile left before she answered "I... was asked not to talk to you. Or Ruby. Or Weiss. Or Blake. Or Yang. Anybody, really."

"Was your dad that upset?" Ryan asked.

"No, it wasn't my father..." Penny's answer was cut short as the pair heard the sound of megaphones announcing something causing them to turn a corner to see a platform in the centre of a plaza with a holographic image of General Ironwood in front of a group of android models which in turn were standing in front of two large metal cases with an emblem of a shield and spear on the doors.

The Ironwood hologram spoke "The AK-130 has been a standard security model of Remnant for several years, and they have done a fine job. Wouldn't you agree? Wouldn't you agree?" the audience in front of the platform applauded, causing the androids to jerkily bow "But... the kingdom of Atlas is a kingdom of innovation, and 'fine'... Well, that's just not good enough, is it? Presenting... the Atlesian Knight-200!" as he said that the doors of the cases opened, revealing new, bulkier and shinier androids which knocked down the other models to the audience's applause "Smarter, sleeker, and admittedly, a little less scary." the new androids flexed and posed as a demonstration "These models will become active later this year, but they won't be alone! Now, the Atlesian Military has always supported the idea of removing men from the dangers of the battlefield. However, there are still many situations that will undoubtedly require... a human touch."

"Huh." was all Ryan said as Penny looked at him nervously "Ryan..?"

The Ironwood hologram continued "So, our kingdom's greatest minds, in cooperation with the Schnee Dust Company, are proud to introduce... the Atlesian Paladin!" the hologram changed to reveal a much larger mech that was, in Ryan's opinion, armed to the teeth and then some as Ironwood's voice continued "Now, we couldn't have them here for you today, but these mechanized battle suits will be seen defending the borders of our kingdom within the year!"

Ryan didn't say anything as Penny spoke, concerned "Ryan? Maybe we should go somewhere else."

Ryan snapped out of his distraction to see two armoured soldiers look at Penny before calling for backup as Ryan turned to see Penny back up before breaking into a dead run causing him to run after her "Penny! Wait up!"

The girl and Faunus ran across the street as the two soldiers ran after them one of them being stopped by a car as the other continued pursuit.

As Ryan and Penny ran down a second alleyway, Ryan saw a stack of crates on a support, smiling, Ryan used his Semblance to jostle the support into dropping the crates behind him before grabbing Penny around the middle

"Hold on!" Ryan said as he and Penny picked up speed as they moved through the alleyway until Ryan tripped up causing him to drop Penny and land on the street.

"O-Ow." Ryan rubbed the back of his head before a honking causes him to turn to see a truck about to run him over, Ryan crossed his arms in defence before Penny shoved him out of the way and held her arms out.

Time slowed for Ryan as the truck, instead of running Penny down, stopped and went a few centimetres in the air as the hood was crumpled while the ground was cracked and crumbled.

"Penny..?" was all Ryan could say in surprise while Penny looked at the driver "Are you okay?"

The driver simply nodded in shock at what happened as Penny turned to see Ryan's surprised look before turning to see the bystanders murmuring to each other, trying to make heads or tails of what happened until she panics and runs, causing Ryan to go after her and call out "Penny! Come back!"

As Penny ran out of the alleyway, she looked around to try and find where to go next "Um... Uh..."

Ryan ran to a stop near Penny before speaking "Penny! Please! What is going on?! Why are you running? How did you _do_ that?!"

"I-I can't! Everything's fine!" Penny nervously stammered before hiccupping again "I-I don't want to talk about it!" Penny hiccupped once more.

"Penny, if you can just tell me what's wrong, I can help you!"

Penny retreated from Ryan as she responded "No! No, no! You wouldn't understand..."

"Try me. You can trust me right?"

Penny finally relented before going up to Ryan's face "You're my friend, right? You promise you're my friend?!"

"I promise." Ryan answered with a calming gentleness.

Penny was silent for a second before looking at her hands "Ryan... I'm not a real girl."

Ryan looked down to see Penny's hands, causing his eyes to widen slightly at the fact that some of the skin on her palms were ripped away, revealing grey metal underneath.

"Woah."

"Most girls are born, but I was made. I'm the world's first synthetic person capable of generating an Aura." Penny explained before turning her head to the side sadly "I'm not real..."

"Don't say that Penny." Penny turned back to Ryan as he spoke "The fact that you have an aura, and by extension a soul, means you are definitely more human than you think, especially compared to those androids we saw; You can think, feel and express emotions just as much as any human or Faunus, those can not no matter how many new models Atlas designs and builds. They update." Ryan tapped Penny's nose affectionately with a finger as he said the next words "You grow."

"Ooohh... oh Ryan" Penny pulled Ryan into a hug of gratitude "You're the best friend anyone could have!"

Ryan chuckled as Penny hugged him "Well I can see why your dad would want to protect you."

Penny released Ryan as she returned to her usual happy self "Oh, he's _very_ sweet! My father's the one that built me! I'm sure you would _love_ him!"

"Wow. He built you all by himself?" Ryan asked in genuine interest.

"Well, almost! He had some help from Mr. Ironwood."

"Wait Ironwood?" Ryan responded in surprise "Is that why you were being chased?."

"They like to protect me, too!"

Ryan scoffed before stating "Well you're more than capable of protecting yourself."

"They're not sure if I'm ready yet... One day, it will be _my_ job to save the world, but I still have a lot left to learn. That's why my father let me come to the Vytal Festival. I want to see what it's like in the rest of the world, and test myself in the Tournament."

"Save the world? I guess dark times might be coming soon then." Ryan said as he frowned.

"Likely will." Penny responded before a voice caught their attention "Check down here!"

"Guess it's time for you to go huh?" Ryan turned to Penny whose smile faded a bit.

"That's right Ryan and thanks for what you said earlier."

Ryan smiled in acknowledgement before Penny continued "Just _promise_ me you won't tell anyone else my secret. Okay?"

"You have my word until the time comes when it would cause more harm than revealing it."

As Penny smiled at Ryan's answer, one of the soldiers from earlier saw them "There she is!"

Penny turned to walk towards the soldiers and greet them "Sal-u-tations, officers!"

"Why were you running?" The soldier asked before Ryan responded "She wasn't supposed to talk to me and I pressed her on into doing it. Apologies officers for the inconvenience it caused."

The soldier turned to Ryan "You must be Ryan Wilson, General Ironwood told us a lot about you."

"Lemme guess did this include me reducing a good portion of the Emerald Forest to ash?" Ryan asked with veiled sarcasm.

"Yes he did." the soldier answered causing Ryan to mentally hit himself in the head _"Son of a bitch."_

"Are you okay?" Ryan turned to see the second soldier talking to Penny as the girl showed her palms "Just a scratch."

The soldier Ryan was talking to turned to Penny "Penny, your father isn't going to be happy about this."

"Please, just come with us."

Penny smiled happily "Yes, sir!" the soldiers and Penny soon walked off before Penny turned her head to Ryan who gave her a two fingered salute in response.

_"You have my word."_

* * *

[[Data Entry 42:

Name: Neptune Vasilias

Species: Human

Age: 17

Universe of Origin: Remnant

Member of Team SSSN, despite his namesake and weapon of choice, Neptune is afraid of water.

Semblance: Unknown

Weapon(s): Tri-Hard (Weapon of Choice)

]]

[[Data Entry 43:

Name: Atlesian Knight-200

Universe of Origin: Remnant

Android foot soldiers created by Atlas as a successor to the AK-130

]]

[[Data Entry 44:

Name: Atlesian Paladin-290

Universe of Origin: Remnant

Mechanical battle suits created through a collaboration of Atlas and the SDC

]]


	16. Chapter 16: Broken Repair

Ryan continued his walk through Vale as he thought to himself.

 _"So Penny is an android, well now I can see how I got along with her so easily."_ Ryan chuckled to himself before his scroll rung causing him to grab it.

"Everyone!" came Blake's voice "If you can hear me, we need back-"

"HEEEELLLLP!" came the panicked cry of Sun's voice "Big robot! And it's big! Really big!" Ryan's eyes widened before Sun continued "That Torchwick guy is in it! But not, like, it didn't eat him; he's, like, controlling it or something!"

Ryan's eyes steeled before he responded "I'm on my way!" as Ryan said that, he leapt onto a building and ran towards the source of Blake's signal.

* * *

Team RRWBY (sans Ryan) were taking up positions as a Paladin piloted by Roman started walking towards them until a familiar voice called out.

"INCOMING!" the four girls watched as their sole male teammate, who until this point was absent, leapt at the Paladin and knocked it back with a punch before landing in front of them and turning with a cocky grin "Did I miss anything?"

[[song: Four Fist Death Punch - Brandon Yates]]

The now complete Team RRWBY now readied themselves as the Paladin walked up to them before Ruby called out "Freezer Burn!" to which she, Blake and Ryan jumped out of the way as Weiss spun around before plunging Myrtenaster into the ground causing a circle of ice to cover the ground around them then moving out of the way as Yang punched the centre with Ember Celica, creating a mist that covered both the team and the Paladin. The mech attempted to look for the now disappeared team before firing a shot between where Blake and Yang were, missing the pair as Ruby leapt out of the resulting blast and slashed at the Paladin's legs before calling out once more.

"Checkmate!"

Leading Weiss and Blake to run at the Paladin's legs before the heiress leapt up to stab at a sensor then jumping off of one of her glyphs. The Paladin proceeded to try and crush Blake underfoot until Weiss summoned a glyph to move Blake out of the way, leading to the mech firing missiles to try to blow up the pair but miss their targets who dodged them, unfortunately Weiss jumped too high, allowing the Paladin to try to blast her out of the sky. While she was able to block most of the damage with Myrtenaster, Weiss was still thrown back before responding by creating a yellow glyph adorned with a clock pattern that was absorbed into Blake who proceeded to slice up the remaining missiles with lightning fast speed.

"Ladybug!"

As Ruby called out she shot herself forward, cutting at the Paladin's legs before turning as Blake aims herself at its legs as well. The pair proceeded to dash forward and attack simultaneously, circling each other around the Paladin as they attacked before launching themselves into the air to simultaneously slice off one of the Paladin's arms.

Ryan saw his opportunity and leapt onto the Paladin's back and attempted to pierce the top with Fury. Roman must have realised this and after failing to reach him with its remaining arm, the Paladin started to run backwards into a group of columns, causing pain to flow through Ryan's body before he lost his grip and got embedded in a third column as the Paladin backed away from Ryan and turned towards him. As the fox Faunus started to fall, the Paladin closed its remaining fist and punched Ryan through the column as pain spiked through Ryan's body once he impacted the ground.

"Ryan!" the rest of the team called out while the Faunus in question winced in pain as he got up, the pain fading and being replaced with rage once he got back up to his feet only to be distracted by a familiar voice.

[[New Mode unlocked.

Impact Mode

]]

Ryan snapped out of the distraction and called out "Impact Mode!" causing the base of Unity just below the shoulders to open as metal plates exited the now open spaces and surrounded the rest of Unity until the mechanical arms gained a more bulky physique with a gap along the back of both forearms filled with a piston mechanism. Ryan stared at the new state of his arms before his look of surprise delved into a look of cocky excitement as he shifted his gaze to the Paladin that was about to throw a second punch until Ryan caught the attack with a single hand, his smile not faltering as he tightened his grip on the fist, the metal audibly straining before Ryan cocked his free arm back, causing the piston to extend before Ryan threw a punch in unison with the piston retracting which caused the caught fist to shatter into pieces. Getting desperate the Paladin kicked Ryan towards his team as Ruby called out a fourth time.

"Shadowbolt!"

Blake then proceeded to toss Gambol Shroud towards Ryan as he passed them to catch before using the momentum he carried to swing him back around to try and finish off the Paladin only for the mech to step out of the way of the speeding Faunus.

"We have to slow it down!" Ruby called out.

"And _how_ do you propose we do that?" Weiss asked.

"Ice Flower!" Ruby and Weiss proceeded to twirl their weapons so they were facing the Paladin, with Weiss creating a series of glyphs in front of Crescent Rose's barrel. Ruby fired Crescent Rose through the glyphs causing a spiral of energy to fly towards the Paladin, freezing it in ice while Blake swung Ryan around once more until the fox Faunus soared towards the defenceless Paladin while cocking his arm back once more with the piston extending again before Ryan struck the mech's chassis dead on, freeing it from the ice and sending it flying until it broke apart upon hitting the ground revealing Roman.

[[song end]]

Roman got up, dazed but unharmed as he examined the damage while brushing himself off " _Just_ got this thing cleaned..."

Roman looked up just in time to see Ryan stroll up to him, his arms back to normal, preparing a punch to knock out the thief until a short girl with brown and pink hair and clothes got in the way and blocked the punch with an umbrella, shocking Ryan and his teammates as the newcomer rested the umbrella on her shoulder while Roman began to talk.

"Ladies, Gentleman, Ice Queen..."

"Hey!" Weiss called out indignantly.

"Always a pleasure! Neo, if you would..."

The pink and brown haired girl, Neo, curtsied to the team with a bow before Ryan manifested some kinetic energy in his hand and fired it at the pair, only for his eyes to widen as both Roman and Neo shattered like glass when it hit until his second ears picked a noise to cause Team RRWBY to see Roman and Neo flying of on a Bullhead causing Ryan to growl in annoyance.

" So I guess he got a new henchman..." Yang stated the obvious.

"Yeah, I guess she really made our plans... _fall apart_!" Weiss punned causing Ruby to giggle and Ryan to roll his eyes while Blake walked away.

"No. Just... no." Yang simply stated.

"What- But, you do it!" Weiss countered in annoyance.

"There's a time and a place for jokes."

"Was this not it?"

"No, it just wasn't very good." Yang said before following Blake.

"Well, at least I'm trying!" Weiss stated while following the pair.

"Wait..." Ruby started causing Ryan to turn his head to her "Where are Sun and Neptune?"

* * *

As Ryan strolled through Beacon mused to himself.

 _"An artificial entity with a soul, that gives me an idea."_ with a smile, Ryan walked into the Academy's weapon forge to get to work.

_"Soon Penny you won't be alone."_

* * *

[[Data Entry 45:

Name: Neopolitan

Species: Human

Age: Undefined (Within Late Teens to Early Adult Range)

Universe of Origin: Remnant

Right-Hand woman to Roman Torchwick, mute but expressive without words, likes to treat her opponents like toys.

Semblance: Overactive Imagination

Weapon(s): Hush (Weapon of Choice)

]]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Seems that Penny may have someone to relate to soon huh.


	17. Chapter 17: Manic Sanity

_"Oh god I've been waiting for this."_ this was one of the thoughts going through Ryan's head as he stood opposite to Team CRDL, both sides in their combat gear as they waited for Professor Goodwitch to give the signal to commence the spar.

"I'll enjoy this as we take you down, fox." Cardin cockily stated only for Ryan's grin to widen while his grip on Fury tightened before Goodwitch announced "And Begin!"

[[song: Guardian of the Former Seas - DM Dokuro]]

Ryan and Team CRDL rushed at each other before Cardin swung his mace towards Ryan's head, only for the Faunus to slide under the swing before kicking Russel in the face, knocking the mohawked bully away while Dove attempted to slice at Ryan with his sword, with Ryan drawing Fury repetitively to parry each swing before decking Dove with a metal fist, causing him to fall flat on his back.

Sky attempted to take advantage of Ryan's preoccupation and stab at him with his halberd, until Ryan turned to avoid the swing before pinning the weapon between his arms and back. With one swift movement, Ryan snapped the halberd in two as easily as a stick before headbutting Sky and whacking him away with the bottom portion of the broken weapon. Ryan smirked before a cry got his attention causing him to turn to see Russel about to leap at him with his daggers, as time appeared to have slowed down Ryan looked down to see a _very_ vulnerable weak spot, causing him to grin again.

 _"Weakness Identified!"_ Ryan proceeded to run at Russel before cocking a free arm back and punching Russel right in his family jewels, causing nearly every man in the arena to either wince, squeak, cover their own manhoods or a combination of the three in response. As Russel flew back, the look of abject agony on his face being one Ryan wouldn't forget, Cardin attempted to swing at Ryan some more with his mace, only for the Faunus to calmly walk back as he moves out of the way of each swing before casually tripping up the bully.

Ryan looked at Cardin before seeing the bully's weapon lying on the ground, a sinister grin grew on his face as he picked up the mace before pinning Cardin to the ground with a foot. Ryan positioned the mace where he wanted to hit as he gave a few test swings "Three." Cardin looked down to see where Ryan was aiming "Two." Cardin's eyes widened as he realised what was going to happen "One." Cardin could only give a squeak of terror before Ryan shouted out "Fore!" and swung the mace right into Cardin's manhood, causing the bully to go soaring off into a wall before slumping down it into a sitting position.

[[song end]]

"And that's the match." Goodwitch called out before walking to Ryan "Well done, Mr Wilson. You should have no problem qualifying for the tournament."

"Thanks Professor." Ryan gleefully said as he threw Cardin's mace into the air behind him, landing squarely on the bully's jewels once again, eliciting a pained squeal from Cardin "Really this was cathartic for me."

Professor Goodwitch nodded before tapping her Scroll "Alright, now I know that's a tough act to follow, but we have time for one more sparring match." Glynda looked at the observing students before her gaze remained on a certain cat Faunus "Any volunteers? Ms. Belladonna?" Blake shut the book she was currently reading before looking at the combat teacher with wide eyes "You've been rather docile for the past few classes. Why don't you-"

The professor wasn't able to finish her sentence before a voice called out "I'll do it." Goodwitch and Ryan turned to see the familiar man holding his hand up.

" _Mercury_ , is it?" Goodwitch acknowledged "Very well, let's find you an opponent."

"Actually, _I wanna fight_... him." Mercury pointed at Ryan.

"Wait me?" Ryan responded in genuine surprise.

"I'm afraid Mr Wilson has just finished the match. I recommend you choose another partner." Goodwitch tried to say before Ryan brushed it off.

"Don't worry Professor, I'm fine going another round anyway."

* * *

[[song: Brushwork - NyxTheShield]]

Mercury walked into the arena, both him and Ryan sizing each other up until Mercury rushed at the Faunus, attempting to kick him in the head only for Ryan to parry the strike with Fury's sheath before jabbing Mercury in the stomach with his free hand and throwing him back.

Recovering from that counterattack, Mercury proceeded to rush at Ryan with a flurry of kicks, each parried by him with Fury's sheath before activating his Semblance causing him to vanish, surprising Mercury.

"What?" Mercury said before being tripped up, as he got up he saw that no one was there, but from the view of a certain fox Faunus, he was perfectly visible.

"Nice try buddy." Ryan's voice called out from seemingly everywhere at once, causing Mercury to try to look for where he was "You're seeing a demonstration of my Semblance, primarily it allows me to use kinetic energy to boost my abilities; strength, endurance and my personal favourites; speed and reflexes. But to make it fair, I'll lower the speed boost to become visible again." as Mercury prepared himself, Ryan showed up but what happened next he wasn't prepared for, a second Ryan showed up, followed by a third, until there were ten identical copies of Ryan in front of him.

All ten Ryans simultaneously smirked before rushing at Mercury, but even they weren't expecting what was coming next.

"I forfeit." Mercury nonchalantly said.

[[song end (Record Scratch)]]

All of the Ryans' eyes widened as nine of them faded away with the original responding "Wait what?" before he tripped up, flying over Mercury and slamming into the wall behind him.

"In that case... Ryan Wilson is the victor of the match... again." Goodwitch announced as Ryan picked himself up before he and Mercury saw their aura displays, with Mercury's being in the orange "Next time, you may want to think a little harder before choosing an opponent."

"I'll be sure to do that." Mercury responded before an alarm sounded.

Goodwitch turned to the other students and spoke "That is all for today. And remember, the dance is this weekend. But you all have your first mission on Monday. I will not accept any excuses."

After Goodwitch spoke, Ryan looked at Mercury and narrowed his eyes.

* * *

As Team RRWBY walked towards the exit Ryan mused to himself _"Yep definitely the same guy from back at Tukson's. Can't really tell Ozpin about this without solid proof though but maybe..."_ Ryan turned his head towards Yang before speaking "Hey Yang."

Yang turned her head to Ryan "Yeah?"

"Per chance could you give me the location of your informant from the whole Paladin incident, I need info." Ryan calmly asked.

"Sure." Yang proceeded to send Ryan the address of her informant via Scroll.

"Perfect. Wait.." Ryan double checked the address "A nightclub, really?"

Yang smirked "Yep. If you need solid info, the guy that runs this place, Junior, he's your man."

"Good." Ryan conceded before walking ahead "Now I just need to do something first before going there."

* * *

"Interesting." Cinder started. It was night at Beacon as Mercury and Emerald relayed new knowledge to Cinder while she was sewing a black dress "So his Semblance involves kinetic energy does it?"

"Yes, he demonstrated by vanishing from sight before tripping me up and by lowering the speed boost he got from it, he made copies of himself." Mercury confirmed "And from what he said, he can boost his strength, endurance and reflexes too."

"He didn't even use his Semblance when he fought me and Mercury the first time." Emerald stated.

"Perhaps a similar case to why he didn't use those arms of his either." Cinder guessed, after hearing from Roman that this Faunus successfully dismantled one of the Paladins he 'acquisitioned' from Atlas with those arms, she started to grow wary of what this man is capable of "Anything else?"

"Yes." Mercury responded "By getting a closer look at him, I saw that his eyes were to put it simply, weird."

"Explain." Cinder simply ordered.

"His right eye had a red iris but had a unique pattern on it while his left eye was entirely purple with black rings spread from the centre."

"Curious." Cinder stated "Perhaps those were how he saw through Emerald's Semblance when you first fought him."

"Maybe." as the trio mused about what to do, they didn't notice the subject of their attention take a picture of them with his Scroll while outside their window.

 _"Perfect."_ Ryan thought to himself before flying off to the address Yang gave him earlier.

* * *

Ryan strolled through the streets of Vale as he thought about his plan _"Okay; Get a picture of Mercury and the green haired girl. Check. Now to get information from Junior."_

Ryan turned a corner to see the club he was looking for as he mused to himself "Well this is the address." Ryan sighed before continuing to his destination.

* * *

Hei 'Junior' Xiong was a businessman, he would admit it. He personally didn't care who entered his club, whether they were human or Faunus, as long as they paid for their drinks and/or for information, one exception was Blondie as she managed to trash his club just for information and he was glad that didn't happen the second time she showed up. Business was slow tonight so he simply tended his bar while his henchmen and the Twins moved about, it was fine.

That calm was shortly ruined as everyone heard a conversation on the other side of the entrance.

"ID please."

"ID?"

"Yes no ID, no access."

"Ok. Well then HERE'S MY ID!"

At that, one of the bouncers Junior had on guard soared into the club before landing on his back on the dance floor, groaning in pain.

Junior and the rest of the inhabitants of the club stared at the injured bouncer before diverting their gaze towards the entrance as a fox Faunus with nine tails walked in.

"Hello!" the Faunus called out cheerfully, only to be greeted with every henchman pointing their weapons at him while the sole pair of women simply watched "I'm looking for a guy named Junior." Ryan continued, completely unfazed.

Junior recollected himself before answering "Who's asking?"

Ryan calmly walked up to the bar and sat on a stool before responding "A little blonde birdie told me that you would be able to help get me some info on some people."

Junior's eyes slightly widened and twitched a bit _"This kid is a friend of Blondie's!?"_ Junior coughed into his hand before speaking "That's right. Who do you want info on then?"

Ryan smiled before pulling out his Scroll and showing Junior the picture "These three are the people I want info on. The man and the green haired girl attempted to kill the owner of a bookstore I went to a few weeks before they came to Beacon while I'm wary of the second woman even disregarding the other two."

Junior looked at the picture before nodding "Okay. But this isn't gonna be cheap."

Ryan's smile didn't fade but took a sinister tone "Okay how about as payment I don't smash this establishment up." as emphasis and proof, Ryan casually slammed his fist on the counter, audibly and visibly cracking it and making Junior and the two women jump in shock "But, I'll offer my services as a bouncer considering well." Ryan nodded his head to the still groaning bouncer on the dance floor.

Junior sighed before responding "Fine come back in a week for info and your first night on the job." Ryan's smile turned genuine once again as he spoke "That's all I ask for." Ryan proceeded to walk out of the club now satisfied with the situation.

* * *

[[Data Entry 46:

Name: Hei 'Junior' Xiong

Species: Human

Age: Undefined (Within Middle Age Range)

Universe of Origin: Remnant

Manager of his own nightclub, Junior is a reliable, albeit shady, source of information.

Semblance: Unknown

Weapon(s): Bazooka-Bat hybrid (Weapon of Choice)

]]


	18. Chapter 18: Demonic Divinity

Exetior was spending his free time training as he attacked a punching bag with punches and kicks, while he was musing to himself.

 _"Over the course of my time here as a student I've learnt so much about mortal life on Remnant; How the inhabitants discovered dust and defended themselves against the Grimm, how the Faunus fared towards the trials they faced, even how the Four Kingdoms aided each other."_ Exetior's speed increased as he hit the punching bag _"But I've also learnt how Ryan fared with his own suffering, after the hell he had gone through, I wouldn't be surprised if he turned out like Sark is but somehow, once he got the power to stop it, he used it to prevent others from suffering like he did; He aided that Rabbit Faunus by dealing with Cardin and his subordinates, he diffused the situations between Ruby and Weiss and even explained to Weiss about both why his goal is what it is and what he and myself individually fared against before coming to Remnant."_ As Exetior stopped hitting the punching bag, he stopped it's movement before looking at his hands _"Perhaps there is another way to stop the Highest."_ As Exetior smiled, he saw a familiar face with a pair of rabbit ears attached to it "Greetings Velvet."

The Faunus girl in question perked up before turning to Exeitor "O-Oh hello Exetior."

The disguised demon smiled before continuing "Any problems with Cardin and his goons?" Velvet shook her head "Oh no whatever Ryan did, he managed to stop Team CRDL from bullying me."

Exetior smirked "That's because they're more focused on getting payback towards him for making them look like idiots, though they don't really need his help for that."

Velvet snickered a bit at Exetior's jab at her former tormentors before asking "What did they try and do?"

"Oh this will be gold I can assure you." Exetior started before grinning "First was back when me and the rest of the first years had to collect sap from the trees in the Forever Fall, Cardin blackmailed Jaune into collecting a bunch of Rapier Wasps and also do the assignment for him and his team." Velvet frowned as her rabbit ears lowered "Cardin had Jaune fill six jars with sap, one for himself, his team and Jaune, the sixth one was for part one of his payback on Ryan; He was going to cover Ryan in sap before unleashing the wasps on him." Velvet covered her mouth in shock as Exetior continued "Unfortunately for Cardin, Ryan heard him explain his plan to Jaune and played along until Cardin threw the jar, to which Ryan caught it and proceeded to empty the contents of the jar onto Cardin after destroying the Rapier Wasps" Velvet laughed a bit at the action "Sadly the sap ended up attracting an Ursa Major which attacked Cardin while his teammates ran off, Ryan had Jaune try to keep the Ursa of off Cardin while he went to get help when he found me, Ruby, Weiss and Pyrrha who heard the Ursa. When we got to Jaune, he was fending off the Ursa pretty well while Pyrrha told us to stand and watch. Long story short, Jaune beat the Ursa and saved Cardin."

Velvet smiled at what her saviour's partner said before asking "Any other things I missed out on?"

Exetior's grin grew even wider "More recently was Ryan's ''spar'' against Team CRDL. Well not so much as a spar so much as a complete shit kicking." Velvet's eyes widened "If Ryan floored Team CRDL when he helped you, well he mauled them like a pack of Beowolves in his first proper fight against them; Dove was laid out flat on his back, Sky had his weapon broken before being taken out with it but that was merciful compared to what he did to Russel and Cardin; Ryan took advantage of one of Russel's attacks and punched him square in the family jewels and Cardin was pinned to the floor by Ryan as he used Cardin's own mace like a golf club to whack him in the same place to take him out." Exetior visibly cringed as he said that "Even got him a second time by throwing the mace away."

Velvet's rabbit ears flattened as she looked at Exetior in sympathy "Was it that painful?"

Exeitor solemnly nodded "He somehow hit him hard enough that every other man watching, myself included, also felt that pain, despite all logic." Exetior shook his head, removing the painful memory from his mind before asking "You're probably wondering where my partner is anyway. Am I Right?" Velvet smiled while nodding "He's currently using his free time to work on a pet project, so you won't be seeing much of him while he's doing that." Velvet frowned a bit before speaking "There is something I've been meaning to ask."

"What is it?"

"You and Ryan don't seem to really follow the traditional naming procedure with your names. Why is that?" Exetior closed his eyes before responding "That's mainly because the both of us aren't from any of the Four Kingdoms, in fact we aren't even of Remnartian origin." Velvet's eyes widened "So you're-?"

"Aliens? Technically yes but the both of us hail from different universes entirely." Exetior stated before Velvet picked out a single word from his answer "Universes?"

"Me and Ryan both come from separate universes; Ryan comes from a planet similar yet different to Remnant called Earth while I technically hail from a different version of the planet Mobius."

Velvet thought to herself before asking "What was it like before coming to Remnant?" Exetior's expression turned solemn as he conceded "Since Ryan told Weiss about what _his_ life was before coming here, I might as well explain what my life was before coming to Remnant to you. Well I was formerly a member of a race of beings called the Highest, pretty much the closest to gods as we made Mobius. In an attempt to protect Mobius, I disguised myself as a member of our technical opposites, a Demon of Sharpness, to indirectly help. Unfortunately I was found out by the rest of the Highest and stripped of the abilities I shared with them while made into a true Demon of Sharpness due to the fact Highest aren't supposed to meddle in the lives of mortals alongside my fascination towards the demons." Velvet frowned before Exetior continued "I needed to amass an army to defeat them but most demons are too weak to match them or are too violent to help so I turned towards a different method to attain my army, Demonization. By attaining mortals, I could convert them into demons but in order to do so they needed to die first," Velvet gasped "-so in order to do it quickly and easily, I disguised myself as one of Mobius' greatest heroes, a speedy, anthropomorphic, blue hedgehog called Sonic, and systematically killed the first three of his fellow Mobians; Miles 'Tails' Prower, Knuckles the Echidna and the sole human of the trio and Sonic's Arch-Nemesis, Dr. Ivo Robotnik, fortunately there was a reason I killed them quickly and efficiently. A person's mental state dictates how much their personality changes after demonization, Tails and Knuckles didn't change much after becoming demons yet the Doctor's personality actually improved after he was demonized." Velvet shuddered as Exetior continued "After a while I finally found some true demons to assist in building an army; Negagen, Sark and Pervision. Negagen is a Wave Demon, a lesser class that doesn't have the bloodlust most demons share, who I saved from being picked off when I was still a Highest, Sark is a Demon of Sharpness as well and by far the most sadistic and violent of the three as he draws out his victims suffering, breaking them psychologically and physically before demonizing them compared to my quick and simple approach, Pervision, being a Demon of Gap is surprisingly loyal, similar to Negagen, and civil alongside that while keeping mine and Sark's demons from killing each other." Exetior turned to see Velvet silent "Until now I thought that to be the only way to stop the Highest, but thanks to all I've learnt since coming here, maybe there is another way to help Mobius if I get back."

Velvet closed her eyes and inhaled briefly before opening her eyes and smiling "I'm both surprised and glad to hear that. Does Ryan know?"

Exeitor nodded "Yep. If his reaction to my introduction was any indication." Exetior briefly chuckled before continuing "Just in case you end up on my Mobius, I might as well give a view of what both myself and they would look like there." Exetior proceeded to produce an illusion for Velvet, showing four anthropomorphic hedgehogs of similar build; the first had aqua fur and eyes while his quills were pointing upwards, the second had navy blue fur while his eyes were pitch black with red sclera, the third was slightly taller and had greyer fur compared to the second one and the fourth and final one resembled the second one almost exactly only that sometimes his eyes swapped out for one large cycloptic eye.

"A-Are these-?" Velvet began to ask before Exetior answered "Yes these four are myself and my fellow demons; Negagen, Sark and Pervision." Exeitor gestured to the aqua hedgehog "Negagen is my apprentice and the closest to a friend I had before coming to Remnant, he specialises in brainwashing and mental transferral but he didn't have the best skill at blending in." Exetior chuckled as he thought back to when he saw Negagen in a girl's dress until his expression turned sour as he gestured to the third hedgehog "Sark is... well... malicious really, in fact the only reason I enlisted his help was due to needing more demons for my army but even I barely tolerate him, he revels in breaking his victims before demonizing them, even more so towards women." Exetior exhaled before gesturing to the fourth hedgehog "Pervision is calm, calculated and serves as a sort of mediator, keeping Sark and his demons in line while assisting my demons and Negagen."

As Exetior finished his explanation, the illusion faded away before Velvet spoke "So I guess we helped you in finding another way."

Exetior closed his eyes and smiled "That you did and don't worry about threats from Mobius coming here; Negagen, Pervision and my own demons will heed my request to not harm Non-Mobians and I'll make sure Sark or _his_ demons don't come here, lastly the Highest have no interest in Remnant as it wasn't of their creation."

Velvet nodded "Good then I'll see you later then." Exetior smiled as they exchanged goodbyes _"This got a lot off my chest really."_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To make up for his absence, I made this chapter specifically for Exetior otherwise what was the point if one of the main additions from this work went out of focus.  
> [Edit: Corrected referring to Pervision from a Demon of Sharpness to a Demon of Gap]


	19. Chapter 19: Blackened Glare

_"Phew, nearly complete."_ Ryan thought as he wiped an arm across his forehead before looking at the completed body of his project: A robotic lifeform with an appearance similar to a wolf that he paired with a creative weapon built next to it: A hybrid of sword, chainsaw and railgun that could be mounted onto the mechanoid's back or wielded by the wolf's tail of which could serve as an extra hand.

"Now for the soul." Ryan said to himself before putting out his arm with the palm facing upwards and drawing upon his aura the arm glowing with a familiar blue hue until he dug deeper within himself and revealed a glowing white sphere that pulsed rhythmically akin to a heartbeat, his soul, Ryan closed his eyes before audibly straining while his soul pulsed faster and faster until a spike of pain flashed across his body causing the Faunus to stumble a bit before righting himself and opening his eyes to see that there were two souls now, pulsing in sync with as much strength as they did while whole. Ryan gave a tired smile before using his other hand to take one of the souls and place it within the wolfen mechanoid while the second soul returned to Ryan's body.

"Now to give him a name." Ryan thought long and hard before his smile returned once more as he looked at the android "How about Fenrir?" Ryan's gaze remained on the newly christened Fenrir for a while before he proceeded to store him away with Kamui. Ryan sighed to himself before thinking of a certain cheerful android _"You're not alone anymore Penny."_ Ryan turned off the foundry's lights before leaving, proud of himself for what he's done.

* * *

Ruby was miserable. A rarity for her; Hyper. Yes. Stubborn. That's a given. Happy. Usually but not now. She thought back to the rebuttal Blake gave to her, Yang and Weiss back at their dorm last night about slowing down for a bit about Roman and the White Fang and since then Blake has been spending her time at the Library which as Team Leader worried Ruby. Her thoughts were cut off as someone slammed on the table she was sitting at, startling the red reaper before she turns to see Weiss smiling while holding two white tablecloths.

"I need _you_ to pick a tablecloth." Weiss cheerfully stated before pushing the tablecloths towards Ruby who couldn't see much difference between them before voicing her thoughts "Aren't they both the same?"

Weiss' smile left her face as she sighed in annoyance before speaking "I don't even know why I asked!" as Weiss walked off, Yang came in, carrying a large speaker on her shoulder which after she put it down caused Ruby and her table to bounce up. The blonde brawler dusted her hands of before approaching her sister "So, have you picked out a dress yet?"

Ruby huffed "What's the point? Who cares about the dance if Blake isn't going?"

"Oh, don't worry; she's going." Yang reassured before turning her head while her face gained a look of exasperation "Weiss! I thought we agreed: No doilies!"

The heiress in question walked up to the brawler and pointed in her face "If _I_ don't get doilies, _you_ don't get fog machines!"

The two girls were interrupted from their argument as the doors to the dance hall were opened revealing Ryan, Exetior, Sun and Neptune.

"Your dance is gonna have fog machines?" Neptune asked suavely as Weiss turned to him while her voice took a sweet tone "We were thinking about it..."

"That's pretty cool." Neptune stated as Ryan looked at the hall before turning back to his female teammates "I must say you two have really outdone it with the setup." Yang grinned as she turned to him "Yeah even with some clashes,-" Yang nodded towards Weiss who frowned "-this may turn out to be one awesome dance."

Ryan smirked as Sun tried to follow his blue-haired teammate's example and act suave to Weiss' annoyance "You ladies all excited for dress-up?"

"Pfft... Yeah, right!" Ruby snorted before Yang countered "Laugh all you want. _I'll_ be turning heads tomorrow night!" Ryan inwardly smirked as he recalled a certain battle between his blonde teammate and a fellow female brawler before hearing Weiss' voice "What are you four wearing?"

"Uuhhh... _this_?" Sun confusedly answered while gesturing to his current attire before Neptune steps up and holds a hand in front of his monkey-tailed teammate's face "Ignore him for he knows not what he says."

Sun knocked Neptune's hand away from his face as he defended his answer "Hey, I may have moved to Mistral, but I grew up in Vacuo. It's not exactly a shirt-and-tie kind of place."

Exetior shrugged before conceding "Fair enough. When one grows up in a desert for most of their life, something like a dress or tuxedo wouldn't be top priority obviously." Sun nodded at the demon in gratitude before turning to the girls "Soooo... what does Blake think of all this? She still being all, y'know... Blake-y?"

"Obviously." Weiss answered while crossing her arms before Ruby added "I still can't think of a way to change her mind."

"Guys." everyone present turned towards Yang as she spoke while she was leaving "Trust me; Blake _will_ be at the dance tomorrow." Ryan smiled at Yang's statement and implication before calling out "Good luck Xiao-Long."

* * *

A day had passed since Yang went to convince Blake to come to the party and the rest of Team RRWBY were relieved to see that Yang was successful in her goal while Ryan was holding back laughter at the sight of Blake and Yang dancing together before Sun took over for the brawler while she walked towards her other teammates.

"I told you she would come." Yang stated as she turned to see her partner continue dancing.

"Mission accomplished." Weiss said in response before Ruby turned to her teammates and asked "Soooo, what do we do now?"

"Just have fun!" Yang simply answered as she and Weiss walked off in two different directions, leaving Ruby and Ryan alone. Ryan turned his head towards his leader and asked "Aren't you gonna join them?"

Ruby stammered at the question before answering "N-Not really. I'm just not much of a fancy pantsy... dancey girl." Ryan huffed before taking a drink and answering "Guess that makes two of us then." Ruby's face turned into one of surprise as Ryan took note "I.. don't dance both because I can't\won't do it buuut sadly despite me preferring it, we can't spend our entire lives fighting, we do need people to socialise with, have fun with or just simply talk to as we are doing right now." Ryan devolved into chuckles before continuing with a smile "Even Exetior is doing his best to socialise." Ruby turned to see Exetior talking to Velvet and what she and Ryan could only assume was her team being part of the conversation "Even then it's best to value the time you have with others." Ruby turned back to see Ryan holding an orb of energy similar to what he showed them a couple months ago via his Semblance "Cause you never know what you have until you lose it." as Ryan said that, the orb dissipated like the embers of a flame while he turned back to Ruby with a gentle smile "Go try to spend some time socialising with others, you may end up enjoying the encounters that happen." at Ruby's uneasy smile Ryan proceeded to go to the upper floor of the dance hall, away from the hectivity of the party.

* * *

Ryan stood alone outside on the balcony as he gazed upon the shattered moon, absentmindedly tapping against the guardrail he was leaning on with his fingers while he thought to himself _"Things have changed since me and Exetior first came to Remnant, I've changed from that hapless halfwit that crashed into a tree to a respectable teammate, a half-decent mediator and a good friend but even now I'm still learning, both of what I am and what I can be."_ a smile formed on Ryan's face as he came to a revelation _"This world's changing me, for better and for worse, but I ain't taking it for granted."_ Ryan's thoughts were caught short as his fox ears picked up a noise causing him to turn and see a shadowy figure run across the rooftops, eyes narrowing, Ryan leapt of the balcony and ran after the figure across the roof tops.

* * *

As Ryan reached the intended destination of the mystery person, the CCT Tower, Ryan was surprised to see a pair of armed guards unconscious before his gaze diverted to see the elevator inside close with the mystery person inside, Ryan scowled at being too late before realising something, that elevator only goes one way, up, Ryan grinned as the ports on his shoulders opened up before he began to rocket up to the top floor of the large tower, knowing he was obviously faster than an elevator.

* * *

When the elevator reached the top floor, the doors opened to reveal a disguised Cinder walking out with a Scroll in her hand as two guards that were in the elevator with her were slumped on the walls, unconscious as she smiled sinisterly behind her mask "Oh! That's handy." she stated before she pocketed the Scroll, she walked towards a control console ready to upload her virus but before she could begin installing, a small dual-edged knife embedded itself into the console, slightly surprising her before a familiar voice called out "Nice try." Cinder turned to see the fox Faunus she saw a few days ago walk out of the darkness, sword in hand and wearing a black, blue and yellow jacket as he continued with a determined glare and frown "But to be skilled in stealth you're meant to avoid all forms of detection including sound. Pyro Mode!"

[[song: Blood on Broken Glass - Brandon Yates]]

As Ryan transformed and went into a fighting stance, the mystery woman took a small container from their belt and opened it before a cloud of dust was emptied, the cloud glowed for a bit before condensing into glass shards that shot at Ryan, only for the Faunus to twirl Fury to block the shards before retaliating with a fireball which in turn caused Ryan's eyes to widen as the mystery person dissipated the fireball with a single outstretched hand while their outfit glowed in places, but he snapped out of his shock to lunge at them with Fury, fully intending to skewer them until they parried the stab with one of two obsidian black swords, Ryan leapt away as the mystery person combined their swords into a bow and fired three orange arrows at Ryan, the Faunus deflected the first arrow before slicing the second arrow in half and catching the third arrow mere inches from his face and tossing it away as he readied a stabbing thrust until he was distracted by the elevator opening to reveal General Ironwood, Ryan's face showed relief before turning back to see the mystery person gone.

[[song end]]

With a growl of annoyance, Ryan reverted back as he sheathed Fury and turned to Ironwood who looked more serious than he was when Ryan first met him while walking to the Faunus.

"What happened?" Ironwood demanded with the authority Ryan expected from the General.

"Guards blindsided. The mystery person that caused it came here and I stopped her but she escaped when you came." Ryan answered with the respect of a soldier.

James frowned before starting "Well you have my gratitude for stopping them."

"It was a woman." Ryan's statement caused the General to stop and ask "Really?"

"Yes from her build and grace of the attacks, I can confirm the assailant to be female _and_ she somehow blocked Pyro Mode's flames when I fired at her." James' eyes widened of which did not go unnoticed by Ryan "I can tell you know something about her from the look on your face. What?"

The General sighed with minor annoyance before responding "I'm afraid I cannot tell you."

Ryan's frown evolved into a scowl as he dropped the respect "Okay that's horseshit!" Ironwood looked at the Faunus in surprise at what he said before he continued "If you have any info on her I would be able to use if I come across her once more that would be more than helpful so do **not** give me any of that ''classified'' bullshit General."

James stared at Ryan before the thoughts of a certain drunkard huntsman crossed his mind, causing him to inwardly groan before steeling his gaze at Ryan "Fine, Ozpin would be better suited to explain the situation than I would so come to his office tomorrow and we'll explain everything."

Ryan thought for a moment before responding "As long as I get answers." and with that Ryan walked past the Atlesian General into the empty elevator before the doors shut, his frown never leaving his face as the doors closed.


	20. Chapter 20: Mysterious Certainty

As the elevator went up, Ryan thought to himself _"First somehow Ozpin found out about my eyes' abilities and now some mystery woman can counter my flames. One way or another someone's gonna explain."_ Ryan's thoughts were cut off as the elevator signalled his arrival before Ozpin's voice called out "Come in."

The doors opened for Ryan revealing James, Glynda and Ozpin at the headmasters desk, the atmosphere tense.

Ozpin smiled as he greeted the Faunus "Thank you for coming, Ryan. How are you feeling?"

Ryan sighed before responding "Not bad. Still a bit 'frustrated' that the mystery woman got away."

James walked towards Ryan before speaking "Ryan, I feel it's appropriate to let you know that I think what you did last night is exactly what being a Huntsman is all about. You recognized a threat. You took action. And you did the very best you could."

Ryan smiled a bit at the general's consolidation before responding "Thanks General, that helps."

"Now." Ozpin started as James returned to his position "The general here has already informed us of the events that... transpired last night, but now that you've rested, we were wondering if you had anything to add."

"Was anyone else with her?" Glynda asked "Did she look familiar to you at all?"

Ryan closed his eyes before answering "To answer the first question Professor, there weren't any others with her. And for the second question, she was wearing a mask, and she never said anything to me. But I know she fought with glass. I doubt it was her Semblance, though. Her clothing lit up whenever she attacked."

Glynda nodded at Ryan's answer before turning to the other two men in the room "Save for the glass, that sounds like the woman I fought the night we met Ruby." Ryan's eyes widened before steeling as James spoke "Embedding Dust into clothing is an age-old technique. It could have been anyone."

"She also managed to stop Pyro Mode's flames with one hand." Ozpin, Glynda and James turned to Ryan as he added "So unless she has a _very_ specific Semblance. How _did_ she do that?"

Ozpin looked at Glynda and James before sighing and asking "Ryan, have you heard of 'The Story of The Seasons'?"

Ryan looked at Ozpin in confusion before responding "No. No I haven't Headmaster."

If Ozpin was surprised, he didn't show it as he spoke "Well, 'The Story of The Seasons' tells of an old hermit who was visited by four sisters who each in their own way, showed the hermit kindness; The first encouraged him to meditate and reflect upon himself, the second brought him fruit and flowers while revitalizing his garden, the third convinced him to step outside and embrace the world and the fourth asked him to be thankful for what he has. The hermit as repayment for their kindness, granted each of the four sisters immense powers, of which the newly christened Maidens proceeded to go across Remnant to spread their newfound gifts."

Ryan nodded absentmindedly before responding "Interesting story, but what does it have to do with last night?"

Ozpin smiled as he answered the Faunus' question "What if I told you that this story was true?"

Ryan's eyes widened in justified shock "Wait so, you're telling me that this mystery woman may have access to magical powers?"

"From what you said about her blocking your flames, she may have the power of a Maiden, or at least, half of it." Ozpin explained.

"Half?"

Ozpin simply nodded before standing up "Come with us." Ryan proceeded to follow Ozpin, Glynda and James back into the elevator.

* * *

[[song: Quiet Water - String Player Gamer]]

The elevator doors opened once again for the group, revealing what Ryan could only describe as a large vault of which he, Ozpin, James and Glynda started walking through.

"So..." Ryan started as the group walked "What's the deal with the Maidens then?"

"The Maidens have existed for thousands of years." Glynda started explaining without turning to Ryan "But much like in nature, the seasons change. No two summers are alike. When a Maiden dies, her power leaves her body and seeks out a new host, ensuring that the seasons are never lost, and that no individual can hold on to that power forever."

Ryan nodded in understanding "Fair enough. Nothing lasts forever, but it can be born anew. But how is a new host chosen?"

"At first, the only thing that was certain was that the powers were specifically passed on to young women. But as time went on, it was discovered that the selection process was much more... intimate."

Ryan raised an eyebrow before asking "Define intimate?"

"As we understand it now, when a Maiden dies, the one who is in her final thoughts is the first candidate to inherit her power. But unless the person is a man or an elderly woman, of which the power goes to a random host, and our task is made much more difficult."

Ryan frowned before asking "Then what's changed?"

"Honestly, we've run out of time." James explained "I don't know if you've noticed, but things are getting much more dire out in the world. Tensions are high. Grimm are growing stronger, more prevalent. And it's not going to be much longer before the peace we've been enjoying escapes from us.

"A War. Just like Penny said." James turned to Ryan in surprise before the Faunus explained "She told me what she is a while back. I promised her that I wouldn't tell anyone her secret unless necessary."

Before any more words could be said the group reached the end of the vault where before them was a large machine with lit screens hooked up to two rectangular pods, one of which was upright to show through the glass window a young girl dressed in minimal clothing with a burn scar over her left eye and across her face.

"Whoa." Ryan simply said before asking "Is that...?"

"The current Fall Maiden, Amber." Ozpin answered with a solemn sigh.

"She's still alive." Ryan guessed with equal solemnity.

"For now." James stated "We're using state of the art Atlas technology to keep her stable. But there is a lot about this situation that is... unprecedented."

"What?" Ryan asked before James closed his eyes and sighed "Well, we don’t know what will happen if- when she passes."

"But won't her power just transfer to a different host?"

"Under normal circumstances, yes. But this is a delicate situation. It's not uncommon for the last thoughts of the slain to be of their attacker." James glances at Amber before continuing "And to make matters worse, no one's ever seen the power split like this before. For all we know, it will seek out its other half."

"Her attacker." Ryan realised before Ozpin stated "And that would not bode well for any of us."

Ryan thought to himself before his eyes steeled as he looked at Amber and spoke "I may have a way to help her."

Glynda and James stared at Ryan in surprise at what he said while Ozpin smiled and asked "And what is it?"

"Before I try, could the three of you hold out your hands, palms facing up?" once the three adults did as Ryan asked, he closed his eyes before they opened with a faint white glow surrounding them. Suddenly glowing, pulsating spheres faded into existence above their hands while spheres appeared in front of Ryan and Amber's chests; Ozpin's sphere had an alternating glow of green and light blue, Glynda's had an alternating glow of blue and purple, James' had an alternating glow of yellow and orange, Ryan's had it's near unwavering white glow and Amber's had an alternating glow of green and blue

"What are these?" James asked as he and Glynda stared at their spheres while Ozpin simply gazed upon his.

"These, General, are our souls, the very things our own Aura is drawn from." Ryan explained with a smirk, his eyes still glowing with a faint white.

"Interesting." Ozpin said as he gazed at his and Amber's souls "Yet they don't match our aura." Ryan's smile didn't leave his face as he continued to explain "I've already came to a conclusion that Aura and soul colours are completely separate from each other." Ozpin, James and Glynda turned their attention to the Faunus as he spoke "While Aura colours differ from person to person, souls on the other hand, their colours are dependant on our dominant personality traits; Ozpin's soul has traits of Kindness and Patience, hence the green and light blue glow, Goodwitch's soul is purple and blue, Perseverance and Integrity, Ironwood's is yellow and orange, Justice and Bravery, and my soul actually has many traits including the ones you three and Amber bear."

Once Ryan finished his explanation, Ozpin, Glynda and James' souls faded away while his and Amber's remained as Ryan walked towards Amber's pod.

"Now to try my plan." Ryan stated as he placed his hands on the glass covering of the pod before his body glowed with his Aura. Green and blue waves started to flow across his hands towards Amber's soul, which the adults noticed, had a weaker pulse compared to theirs and Ryan's. Ryan continued flowing waves into Amber's soul before stopping to see that Amber's soul was pulsing as strong as his did.

"There." Ryan finally said as his and Amber's souls returned to their bodies.

"What did you do?" James asked as Ryan turned to the group before responding "I used a combination of soul magic and my own Semblance to repair Amber's soul and heal her body."

"Soul magic?"

"The Story of The Seasons isn't the only story to hold weight you know. Proficient enough users of souls can gain access to magic that, while specific forms are exclusive to certain traits, has near limitless variety in both combat and everyday life; Souls of Kindness for example, have unparalleled proficiency in defensive and healing magic, like the kind I used for Amber."

"Remarkable." Glynda started "This could have potential merits for Huntsmen, Huntresses and even Civilians."

"Yes. But it has an equal number of benefits for criminals such as Roman as well." Ryan countered before everyone was alerted to a voice.

[[song change: Premonition - String Player Gamer]]

The group turned to see Amber stirring, causing James to hit a button on the device's console in order to open the Fall Maiden's pod. Amber's eyes blinked a bit before opening to see the party of four in front of her, focusing on each member before her attention was directed to Ozpin and Glynda.

"Ozpin?" Amber spoke tiredly.

Ozpin smiled as he responded "Hello Amber. I trust that you are well rested?"

Amber chuckled a bit at Ozpin's darkly humorous joke before she gave a tired smile "Yes I am. But how am I back?"

"You can thank Ryan for your return from the brink." Ozpin gestured to Ryan who gave a simple wave in response when Amber looked at him before speaking "It was a simple matter of fixing your soul."

Amber wordlessly nodded at Ryan before Glynda asked "Do you remember anything from when you were attacked before your coma, Miss Lightvale." Ryan's eyes widened at hearing Amber's last name but didn't say anything as Amber responded "Yes, I recall three people attacking me, two women and one man."

"Perchance did one of these women have mint green hair and the man have silvery grey hair?" The group turned to Ryan before Amber answered "Y-Yes. How did you know?"

"Cause I fought those two already. The man twice." aside from Ozpin, everyone's eyes simultaneously widened before Ryan continued "The man fought with his legs and from the sounds I heard from clashing with his attacks, they were prosthetics, while the green haired woman fought indirectly with hallucinations via her Semblance." Amber frowned as she remembered when she was fooled by that very Semblance while Ryan turned to Ozpin, Glynda and James "Most likely Amber's attackers have infiltrated Beacon."

"Do you know who they are?" Ozpin asked to which Ryan nodded "Yes. Thanks to information I got from an informant of Yang's, I know their names; Mercury Black and Emerald Sustrai. I am also certain their leader is also the one who stole half of Amber's powers and the mystery woman I fought last night, the thematically named Cinder Fall."

"Mercury, Emerald and Cinder are visiting students of Haven Academy." Glynda realised before sighing "That means we can't apprehend them."

"That's right. Unless we want fear across Vale and by extension Grimm, they are untouchable as is." Ryan added.

The group looked at each other before turning to Amber and then to Ryan as Ozpin spoke "Due to these new circumstances, we request that you serve as Amber's guardian for the time being."

Ryan was genuinely surprised before speaking "Me?"

James nodded before explaining "Yes, as you have fought Amber's attackers and have multiple means of protecting her, you would be the most capable person to defend her until we can remedy the situation."

Ryan and Amber looked to each other before Ryan turned back to the rest of the group "Okay then, but first Amber needs gear and proper clothes."

[[song end]]

* * *

Ryan calmly walked back to his dorm as he thought to himself _"Okay so now I'm a huntsman-in-training **and** a bodyguard. Well this will certainly not be a boring year." _Ryan smirked before he opened the door to his dorm room, revealing Yang, Weiss, Blake and Ruby, now aware of the Fox Faunus entering the room.

"So?-" Yang started "-What happened?"

Ryan calmly sighed before beginning "Well I went up to Ozpin's office to give what I knew of what happened last night in the CCT Tower, of which there was a mystery woman who most likely tried to hack into the CCT, to which I intervened and stopped her, but she escaped when Ironwood came. Oh and the general gave me a bodyguard job."

"Really?" Weiss asked to which Ryan smiled "Yeah, the person I'll be guarding will be coming later."

"Well now that you're back, we got a delivery." Ruby stated which caught Ryan's attention as he asked "Really? What is it?"

Yang produced a cylindrical package half the size of her arm from behind her back as she spoke "I don't know yet. Mine and Ruby's dad sent it to us. I thought we could all open it together as a team! I had to convince Ruby not to open it until you came back."

"Oh cool." Ryan said before Yang opened the container and a smaller cylinder, hairy and black, fell out onto the floor causing Ryan to pick it up. The object started to shake in Ryan's hands before turning into a small corgi causing Ryan to shift his grip appropriately while the rest of Team RRWBY lean in, all staring at it. The dog barked twice before Ruby and Yang went excited with Ruby jumping in the air before posing as she shouted the dog's name in joy.

"Zwei!"

"He sent a dog?" Blake asked in shock as Weiss added "In the mail?"

"Oh, he does stuff like this all the time!" Yang reassured as Blake disappeared up onto Ruby's bunk before asking "Your father or your dog?"

"Are you telling me that this mangy... drooling... _mutt_ -" Weiss started before going into baby speak "-is going to wiv wif us _foweva?_ Oh, yes he _is_ , yes he _is!_ Oh, isn't he adorable!"

"Please keep it away from my belongings." Blake stated, still on Ruby's bed before she and the rest of Team RRWBY notice that Ryan hasn't said a word since holding Zwei.

"Uh, Ryan?" Ruby asked, genuinely worried before Ryan's look of shock transformed into a look of childlike glee as he finally made a sound "eeeeeEEEEEEeeee! A dog! If I knew we were getting a dog through the mail I would have come here quicker!" Ryan said with energy rivalling Nora's own before the intercom turned on and Glynda's voice came out _"Would all first-year students please report to the amphitheater?"_

"Well, we can't exactly leave him here while we're gone for the week." Weiss stated as Ryan puts Zwei on the floor before the corgi walks over to Blake, still on Ruby's bunk, and barks, causing Ryan to internally laugh his lungs out at the stereotype unfolding while outwardly having a shit-eating grin on his face _"HAHAHAHA! Oh I am so giving Blake shit for this."_

The Team and corgi all divert their attention to Yang as she finds a letter "Look, there's a letter!" Zwei walks up to the group as Yang reads the letter "Dear girls, I've got to leave the island for a few days, so I'm sending Zwei to you to take care of. Enclosed is all the food you should need. Love you both, Taiyang."

As Yang was reading Ryan picked up the package and looked inside before hitting the closed end when Yang finished the letter, causing a few dozen cans of dog food to fall out, piling up around Zwei.

"What is he supposed to do with that?" Weiss asked before Ryan looked inside the package and called out "There's something still in here." Ryan proceeded to hit the closed end again, causing the handle of a can opener to hit the Fox Faunus in the eye, making him yelp in pain as the can opener landed near Zwei.

"Well, that settles it!" Yang stated "Come on team, Zwei will be here when we get back!" as the team leave the dorm, Weiss continues to talk to Zwei "Oh, I'll miss you so much, we're going to be best friends, I can't wait to see you." the rest of the heiress words devolved into unintelligible baby talk before Ryan follows her out.

* * *

"Quiet! Quiet please. Professor Ozpin would like to share a few words before we begin." were the first words spoken by Glynda as both Beacon and foreign students stood in front of her and Ozpin before the latter began speaking "Today we stand together, united. Mistral. Atlas. Vacuo. Vale. The four Kingdoms of Remnant. On this day, nearly eighty years ago, the largest war in recorded history came to an end. It was a war of ignorance, of greed, and of oppression. A war that was about much more than where borders fell or who traded with whom, but about the very idea of individualism itself. We fought for countless reasons, one of which being the destruction of all forms of art and self-expression. And as you are well aware, that was something many could not stand for. As a result, those who opposed this tyranny began naming their children after one of the core aspects of art itself: color. It was their way to demonstrate that not only would they refuse to tolerate this oppression, but neither were the generations to come. And it was a trend that is held to this very day. We encourage individuality, expressionism, and unity through diversity. As I have said, today we stand together, united. But this bond cannot exist without effort. Which is why today, while the rest of the world celebrates peace, Huntsmen and Huntresses will work to uphold it. As first year students, you will be tasked with shadowing a professional Huntsman or Huntress on a mission. Some of you may be taken out of the Kingdom for several days. Others may work within the walls for the rest of the week. But no matter which path you choose, remember to be safe, remember your training, and remember to do your very best."

Once Ozpin finished his speech every student walked out of the amphitheatre with Team RRWBY all together as they walk out with Ruby giddy as can be with her bag on "This is perfect! All we have to do is shadow a Huntsman working in the southeast!"

"Yeah!" Yang agreed "We'll follow them around by day and give them the slip by night!"

"Let's check 'search and destroy'!" Weiss stated as the group walked up to a holographic screen.

"Here we go! Quadrant 5 needs Grimm cleared out!" Ruby checked as the team looked at the screen.

"Well, it's in the southeast!" Blake stated as her partner called out "Sounds perfect!"

Ruby proceeded to select the mission and type the group's team name, only for the screen to say that first years are not allowed to take the mission.

"Wonderful." Weiss said sarcastically as Ryan stated similar gripes "Shit."

"Any other ideas?" Blake asked before Ruby gave one "We _mail_ ourselves there!"

"Well, that's one option." the group turned to see Ozpin standing before them "Unfortunately, we determined that the concentration of Grimm was too extreme for first-year students. It seems that _particular_ region is rather popular. In fact, I have the sneaking suspicion that you four will make your way there no matter which job you choose."

As the rest of Team RRWBY glare at their leader, she nervously rubs her head before speaking "Whatever makes you say that?"

"I'm still curious how you all found yourself at the docks last semester. And I certainly wonder why witnesses reported seeing robots and rose petals in a dance club some time ago." Ozpin reminded the team.

"Um... well..."

"I doubt I'll ever find the exact answers I'm looking for." Ozpin admitted "So how about this: instead of waiting for you all to break the rules, why don't we just _bend_ them?" Ozpin proceeded to select a few things on his scroll before the hologram makes a noise, causing the team to smile as Ruby thanked him "We won't let you down. Thank you, professor."

"Do not thank me for this. Teamwork and persistence have carried you far. But you must understand, the things that await you beyond the protection of the Kingdom will not care. Stay close to your Huntsman at all times, and do exactly as he says. He will be leading you on this mission, and he can have you sent back to Beacon, if he finds your skills to be unsatisfactory. Good luck."

The team nodded at the headmaster's words before the group leave the auditorium.

* * *

[[Data Entry 47:

Name: Amber Lightvale

Species: Human

Age: Undefined (Within Early Adult Range)

Universe of Origin: Remnant

Current Fall Maiden, inexperienced with her magic but no less dangerous, half of power stolen by Cinder.

Semblance: Unknown

Weapon(s): Staff (Weapon of Choice), Fall Maiden magic (50% power)

]]

[[Data Entry 48:

Name: Soul magic

Universe of Origin: Undertale

Proficient users of souls can cast magic associated with their traits (e.g. Healing and Defensive magic with a soul of Kindness)

]]

[[Data Entry 49:

Name: Zwei

Species: Dog: Corgi

Universe of Origin: Remnant

A rare case of a pet with a fully functioning Aura, Zwei is remarkably intelligent and deceptively capable in combat.

]]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will be doing some major additions from this point onwards;  
> 1\. Amber will be brought back from her coma, so no dead Fall Maiden and no dead Pyrrha.  
> 2\. Ryan will have access to soul magic (Think Undertale/Glitchtale) and soul traits from both works will be included, meaning Fear and Hate will be incorporated later on.  
> 3\. Similar to Fear and Hate being included, Amber's last name will be Lightvale, at least one Amber will live this time.  
> Also. GOD DAMN THIS TOOK A LONG TIME TO DO! Accidentally lost the chapter more than Penny's debuting chapter somehow.


	21. Chapter 21: Truthful Deceit

As Team RRWBY walked towards their airship, Yang started speaking without the energy she had at the auditorium "That wasn't exactly uplifting."

"But it's the truth." Blake admitted.

"It's gonna to be tough, but I know we can do it!" Ruby tried encouraging her team "We've never backed down before, and we're not going to start now."

"That's right." Ryan agreed

"Besides, it won't only be us out there! We'll be fighting alongside a genuine Huntsman!"

"Yeah!" Yang stated with returned enthusiasm.

* * *

Most of Team RRWBY were staring with shocked expressions, thinking that Ruby somehow jinxed them by talking about shadowing a genuine huntsman, Ryan simply smiled as he watched his hyperactive history teacher walk up to them and spoke "Why, hello everyone! Who's ready to fight for their lives?"

"Hello Doctor Oobleck."

Oobleck acknowledged the Fox Faunus' greeting as he paced in front of the team while talking at his usual rapid speed "Yes, I'm afraid those bags won't be necessary, you five, seeing as you've opted to shadow a Huntsman on what is now essentially a reconnaissance mission. I can assure you, we will not be establishing a single base of operations; rather, we will be traversing several miles of hazardous wasteland and making camp in any defendable locations we may stumble upon. I packed all of our essentials myself, plotted our air course, and readied the airship."

Weiss and Blake looked at each other, both equally disturbed, before Oobleck continued "Come now, children; according to my schedule, we are already three minutes behind!" then as an afterthought clarified "...schedule!" before zipping off to the airship in less than a second.

"Well, alright, then!" Ruby started, positive and upbeat "Looks like we're going to save the world with Doctor Oooobleck-" which soon fell flat as the Red Reaper became just as depressed as her fellow female teammates "-okay yeah when you say it out loud it sounds worse."

"Save the world?" Team RRWBY turned to the source of the voice to see Nora and the rest of Team JNPER walking up to them before Nora speaks dramatically "You're going on world-saving missions without us? I'm hurt... sad!" Nora was interrupted by her stomach growling before adding "Maybe a little hungry? That last one's not your fault, though, **Ren**..."

Ren simply crossed his arms before turning away.

"Sounds exciting. Where ya going?" Jaune asked.

"Outside the kingdom." Ryan stated.

"Same here." Exetior responded before Pyrrha explained "Ren and Nora wanted to shadow the sheriff of a nearby village."

"We set out tomorrow." Ren stated before a voice called out "Then you can party with us tonight!" Neptune and Sun proceeded to join the group of ten as the blue haired Huntsman continued "We're shadowing a crime specialist. All inner-city detective stuff. We get junior badges."

Ryan could see the awestruck look in Jaune's eyes before Sun explained to Team RRWBY "We normally go to the city with you guys, _which_ means stuff's always exploding and junk, so we thought this might be a better way to check out the kingdom when it's, you know... normal."

"Well-" Ruby tried to speak before Oobleck appeared from the airship and called out " _Four_ minutes, students!" before going back inside as Team JNPER, Sun and Neptune smiled awkwardly at Team RRWBY.

"Well, uh..." Ruby awkwardly started before giving a thumbs up "Wish us luck!" the group proceeded to separate, Team RRWBY walking to the airship and Team JNPER, Sun and Neptune going back into Beacon.

* * *

As the airship flew over Vale, Yang started speaking to Oobleck "I guess I just never saw you as much of a fighter."

"I admit I fancy myself more of an intellectual,-" Oobleck admitted "-but I can assure you, as a Huntsman, I've had my fair share of tussles."

Ruby tilted her head in confusion before asking "Like the mushroom?"

"Those are truffles." Blake corrected.

Ruby scratched her head before asking again "Like the sprout?"

"Those are Brussels." Ryan corrected this time, opposite from Ruby before Oobleck continued "Besides, given my expertise in the field of history as well as my dabblings in the archaeological surveys, our dear headmaster saw fit to assign me to this particular... assignment!"

"What does history have to do with this?" Weiss asked, causing the history teacher to turn sharply towards her and answer "Why, what a preposterous question, you silly girl! Why, history is the backbone of our very society! And the liver! Probably the kidneys, if I were to wager."

"And that means..?" Weiss continued.

"The southeast quadrant outside of Vale is home to wild forests and deep caves, _but_ it is also the location to one of the kingdom's greatest failures!"

"Mountain Glenn." Ruby realised before Yang added "That's right! It was an expansion of Vale... but in the end it was overrun by Grimm and fenced off from the rest of the city."

"Correct!" Oobleck stated "And now it stands abandoned as a dark reminder."

"And a likely place for a hideout." Blake guessed as Oobleck adjusted his glasses and smiled "Precisely!" Oobleck responded before his attention was diverted to Ryan "Oh and Mr. Wilson?" Ryan turned to Oobleck in response to being called out "Ozpin told me of the task given to you by General Ironwood, so I brought the very woman you need to guard along with us."

Once Oobleck finished his sentence, Team RRWBY all turned to the entrance to the cockpit to see a young woman in combat gear with a staff tipped with white and red Dust crystals on either end slung on her back. As the girls gazed at the woman, Ryan smiled and greeted her "Hello again Amber."

Amber smiled as she responded "Nice to be back Ryan."

The rest of Ryan's team snapped out of their shock before Yang started to talk "No offense to your skills Ryan, but seriously, her?"

Ryan's expression and secondary ears flattened as he responded "Some offense taken, but yes. I'm her bodyguard."

"But she seems more than capable of protecting herself."

"True, but Ironwood requested that I protect her for the time being."

At Yang's hesitant nod, the rest of the flight went on in relative silence.

* * *

"Everyone!" Oobleck started as he, Amber and Team RRWBY exited the now grounded airship, the Fall Maiden and the team of Huntsman and Huntresses all having their weapons ready "You still may be students, but as of this moment, your first mission as Hunters has begun! From this point forward, you need to do exactly as I say! Do you understand?" Once the team nodded, Oobleck suddenly looked at Ruby, startling the Red Reaper before he spoke " **Ruby!** I thought I told you to leave all of your bags back at school."

"But, uh, you hadn't told us to listen to you yet. So I didn't." Ryan snickered at Ruby's unintentionally smartass answer as Oobleck spoke under his breath "She's not wrong..." Oobleck then increased his voice's volume to be heard "Very well, Ruby; leave your bag here, we can pick it up upon our return."

"But I, well uh-"

"Young lady, what in the world could you possibly have in that bag that could be so important to bring it with..." whatever else Oobleck was going to say died in his throat as the zipper of Ruby's bag opened and out came the head of Zwei, causing the entire party to stare at the surprise newcomer as Ruby futilely tried to speak to Zwei "Get back in the bag." only for the corgi to bark in response.

"We're here to investigate an abandoned urban jungle teeming with death and hostility, and you brought... a _dog_?" Oobleck asked stated in incredulity as Ruby tried to formulate a response, only for the history teacher to alleviate her fears "Genius!" Ruby gives a confused shrug before Oobleck speeds past her, snatching Zwei away and causing Ruby to fall over as Oobleck spins Zwei in the air. "Canines are historically known for their perceptive nose and heightened sense of sound, making them excellent companions for a hunt such as ours!" Zwei barked happily at the indirect praise Oobleck was giving him while Ruby snapped out of her shock to proudly state "I'm a genius!"

Weiss and Yang's palms met their faces as Ryan and Amber snickered at the statement before Blake asked "So, what are your orders, Doctor?"

"Ah, yes, straight to the chase; I like it!" as if he forgot, Oobleck let go of Zwei as he put his hands behind his back " As you've been informed, the southeast area has been marked as a recent hot spot for Grimm activity. Now, there are several possible explanations for this behavior, one of which being... Grimm."

Team RRWBY and Amber looked at each other in confusion at Oobleck's redundant statement before Ruby tried to speak "Uh, what?"

"Grimm. A creature of Grimm approximately one hundred yards from us at this very moment."

"What?!" Yang exclaimed as the group turn to see a lone Beowolf wandering into the street before all of them (sans Oobleck) ready their weapons.

"Stop!" Oobleck ordered.

"Huh?" Blake said as she and everyone else lowered their weapons.

"There are a number of reasons why Grimm will congregate in this particular area, the most likely of which will be their attraction to negativity: sadness, envy, loneliness, hatred. All qualities that are likely held by our hidden group harboring ill intent."

 _"Oh shit."_ Ryan internally realised as Ruby asked "So... What now?"

"We wait. We track. If this specimen leads us to its pack, that pack may subsequently lead us to our prey." Oobleck explained.

"How long do we wait?" Blake asked.

"It's uncertain. Hours, days, weeks. Why, lone Grimm have been known to stay isolated from the pack for months - and there's the whole pack."

Ryan turned to see five more Beowolves join the first as his growing dread increased.

"What?" Weiss asked.

"And now they've seen us." Oobleck answered.

"What?!"

" **AND NOW THEY'VE SEEN** **US!** " Oobleck shouted as the pack of Beowolves started dashing towards the group.

"I take it tracking them is out of the question?" Ruby asked.

"An accurate assumption, yes." Oobleck confirmed.

"What's the plan, then?" Yang asked before Ryan finally spoke "May I try an idea, Doctor?"

Oobleck gave Ryan a surprised look before smiling and nodding "Go ahead Mr. Wilson."

Ryan smiled before calling out "Pyro Mode!" once the flames revealed Ryan once more the Fox Faunus turned to Amber "Am I right in saying that the white crystal on your staff is Wind Dust, Amber?"

"Yes." Amber answered, causing Ryan to ask "Could you aim the crystal at the Grimm but don't fire yet?"

Once Amber did as Ryan asked, Ryan aimed an outstretched arm alongside Amber's staff, the port on the palm opening as a flame came out.

"Now. Amaterasu!" Ryan's left eye cried tears of blood as the orange flame turned into a more violent black flame which caused the group's eyes to widen before Ryan called out "Now Amber!"

At Ryan's order, Amber activated the Wind Dust and sent a gale of wind in tandem with Ryan firing a torrent of black fire of which both attacks combined into a sideways cyclone of black flames that engulfed the pack as they were reduced to ash.

Once Ryan and Amber stopped their combination attack, it was revealed that the Beowolves were completely gone with pyres of black flames dotting the street. Ryan smirked as he turned back while his team and Oobleck gaped at the destructive display before Ruby dashed to the Half-Maiden and Fox Faunus, a look of unrestrained awe plastered on her face.

"Uh... Ruby are you okay?" Ryan asked in genuine worry before the Red Reaper finally spoke "OhmygoshthatwassoamazinghowyouvaporizedthoseGrimmliketheywerenothinghowdidyoudothat?" Ryan couldn't pick apart what Ruby said before Weiss realised something "Wait a minute. A similar thing apparently happened in the Emerald Forest a week before Initiation." Ryan's still bleeding left eye twitched at the heiress' next words "That was you!"

"Yes." Ryan deadpanned with noticeable annoyance as he wiped the blood off his face "Now can we please go!"

* * *

Since the group left the ruined street, Team RRWBY and Amber slaughtered hordes of Grimm; Beowolves with holes in their chests, Ursai with heads blown off, Grimm were being massacred left and right. Oobleck on the other hand, wasn't fighting but rather trying to find any clues to where the hideout was.

"Excellent work, you six!" Oobleck told the group as Grimm pieces smoked and faded away "Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be any signs of criminal operations in this sector. Oh, well! Moving on!"

"Hey, Doc, y'know, I was actually looking forward to seeing a "pro Huntsman" in action. Like, _fighting_ , or at least, _helping_ us fight?" Yang asked with noticeable irritation.

"Ah, but I _am_ in action!" Oobleck spoke over his shoulder "Scouring the ruins of this once-great city for any signs of irregularity!" Oobleck then fully turned towards the whole group before continuing "Not every mission is filled with daring and heroism, girls. Sometimes it's just a heightened form of extermination!" Ryan and Amber nodded their heads in agreement while Yang accepted, albeit more reluctantly as Oobleck finished "Remember, this is a job, and you all signed up for it. I do hope you understand that."

"Well, yeah..." Yang said before trying to sound more convincing "O-Of course!"

* * *

Ryan and Amber went off on their own to scout the path ahead for Grimm to deal with before the others came and after some time had passed, Amber spoke "So Ryan?"

"Yeah?"

"I was wondering, what was that you did which caused your eye to bleed?"

Ryan sighed before answering "That Amber was Amaterasu. A fire technique capable of burning through even other fire. From all the techniques I've used since coming to Beacon, I can safely assume my Mangekyo Sharingan is not limited to a single technique, or at the very least, not specialised to a single one."

"When did your eyes become er... those?" Amber asked.

"Well I had them since... well a week before Initiation. Wish I knew _how_ I got my Sharingan and Rinnegan though." Ryan and Amber's conversation was cut off when Ryan's arm made it's familiar beep.

"Wonder what's new." Ryan tapped the back off the glowing hand as the familiar voice came out.

[[song: Masakox Main Theme - MasakoXtreme]]

[[Scan Complete: 

Rinnegan: Variant: Chrono]]

"Chrono?" Ryan wondered out loud as he looked at Amber before looking back.

[[The Chrono variant of the Rinnegan is unique in that while the user has access to the standard Six Paths technique the vanilla Rinnegan has, the Chrono Rinnegan has access to it's namesake path, the Chrono Path. The Chrono Path allows foresight into the past, present and future of objects, places and people, even alternate timelines and universes aren't barred from the Chrono Path's reach. The user's foresight ability can also be extended to others to give information. As a more combat practical method of its use, the user has access to the omniverse's first _true_ time stop, Time Fracture; Other time stops such as, Dark Hold, the Time Stopper and Mahapadma, do not truly stop time, only slow it down extremely. Time Fracture on the other hand is capable of stopping time completely and can't be overwritten or countered.]]

[[song end]]

Ryan smiled at the information once the voice finished before turning to Amber "Well. Guess we can find out then." Ryan laughed a bit before closing his eyes and opening his newly christened Chrono Rinnegan, causing a image of a winding clock to appear below him and Amber as the scenery around them shifted to something more akin to a recently made crater.

[[song: Dangerous Gaze (Climax) - Brandon Yates, ToxicxEternity]]

Ryan and Amber turned around to see two heavily injured fighters leaping at each other; One with a Sharingan and Rinnegan like Ryan with a sword wreathed in black lightning and a spiritual ribcage, arm and second sword surrounding him. And the other with a third eye on his forehead and a sword made of dark flames. Once the pair of warriors exchanged attacks, the Susano'o user's spiritual armor alongside the black lightning wrapped around his sword faded away as he coughed out blood, while the flaming sword user's breathing was ragged as he flinched from the pain of his wounds. The Susano'o user's sword fell to pieces before slash marks appeared across his body, leaving his eyes intact as he fell into bloody chunks. Amber gasped before seeing that the other warrior's sword was no longer on fire, revealing that the sword beneath was broken at the hilt, before the survivor gave some unheard parting words, albeit already known by Ryan, towards his fallen foe before leaving.

[[song end]]

Ryan was about to leave alongside Amber as well before they saw a portal form beneath the chunks of the fallen warrior as they fell in. Once the scenery returned to being the forest they were originally in, Ryan closed his eyes and smiled before he spoke "Well at least we now know where my eyes came from."

"Wait your eyes...?" Amber started before Ryan answered "Yes. It seems that my eyes weren't originally mine to begin with."

"Then who were those fighters we saw?" Amber asked.

"The two fighters we saw were combatants for a web series called Death Battle where characters from different media fight each other in no holds barred battles to the death, quite popular back home really. The shinobi who bore my eyes previously was Sasuke, a member of the Uchiha family clan, his opponent was Hiei, a fire/ice demon hybrid."

Amber thought to herself for a bit before asking "Were there any other participants?"

"Oh yes." Ryan answered "There have been over 100 battles done with even more fighters; Knights. Tyrants. Androids. Hell even alternate versions of Yang and Weiss have fought." Amber's eyes widened in surprise before Ryan looked back to where they came and spoke "I think it might be best we return to the others before they get worried." at Amber's nod, the pair proceeded to walk back.

* * *

A while later, Team RRWBY (sans Ruby) and Amber were amongst a campfire made by Yang, Weiss and Blake inside an old building waiting for the Red Reaper and Oobleck to return.

"I can't believe we didn't find _anything_..." Yang griped.

"We've always been fortunate enough to be in the right place at the right time. I guess we can't always have luck on our side." Blake explained to her blonde partner.

"That's not what I meant." Weiss said to no one in particular, causing the rest of the group to look her way as Blake responded "Huh?"

"Earlier, about... upholding the legacy. There's more to it than that." Weiss continued.

"Yeah... No, me too. I mean... I don't know." Yang tried to agree with Weiss but failed before Blake agreed with her "I don't know, either. I know what I _want_ to do, but I figured I'd always take things one step at a time."

"Well, it doesn't matter." Yang responded " _We_ know why we're here. Right?"

The group remained quiet as they kept their thoughts to themselves while Ryan idlily fiddled with one of Unity's arms before Oobleck rushed into the room and took notice of the fire "Ah, wonderful; a textbook campfire!"

"Fire!" came from Ruby as she dashes next to the fire and sits alongside Zwei "So... warm..."

"Very good!" Oobleck stated "Eat your dinners and hurry to bed. We have a lot of ground to cover tomorrow and we'll need you to take turns keeping watch over our temporary abode. Any volunteers for first watch?"

Ryan stopped messing with Unity to raise an arm and simply answer "Got it."

As Oobleck rushed off, Ryan got up to head over to the lookout point before he was stopped by Yang who spoke "Hey, did Oobleck ask you why you wanted to be a Huntsman? I mean... what did you tell him?"

"No." Ryan answered "He never asked me. What, did he ask a similar question to you four?"

"We don't know about Ruby but from what Weiss and Blake said, yeah, he did."

Ryan frowned before responding "Strange. Nonetheless, don't let it get to you to much, alright?" At Yang's nod, Ryan continued walking to the lookout point, now concerned for his team.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the record, I ain't doing data entries for Foresight and Time Fracture as they were already explained in the chapter itself.


	22. Chapter 22: Awoken Unconsciousness

An hour passed since Ryan took up watch by the time he returned to the group, the fire burning weaker while the others were asleep. Ryan poked the fire a bit with Fury before walking towards the sole blonde of his team and gently shook her awake.

"Mnn...Wha?" Yang started as she woke up to see Ryan kneeling down next to her as he spoke "Up and at it, Yang. It's your turn." Yang wordlessly nodded as she got up to take up Ryan's role as lookout while the Fox Faunus tried to rest on the sleeping bag Yang slept on.

After a few failed attempts, Ryan sat up as he griped "Ugh, I can't sleep." before getting back up and walking through the entrance to the building near the ruined streets in order to stretch.

Ryan stopped moving when his fox ears twitched as they picked up the sound of footsteps away from the others, his eyes narrowed as he walked towards the source warily. As it turned out, his wariness was justified, as he looked from around a corner to reveal a pair of White Fang soldiers who thankfully didn't hear him. Ryan proceeded to follow the pair, taking heed not to alert them to his presence until the pair of mooks were walking towards a ruined building with remarkably pristine metal doors. Once the pair entered and the doors shut, Ryan pulled out his scroll to call for the others, only to be greeted by the words low signal on the screen.

"Shit. Looks like I'll have to walk back." Ryan stated as he ran back to the rest of the group. He was halfway back when he heard a cracking noise, causing him to look down to see that the street beneath him was about to collapse beneath him, only giving him time to say one phrase.

"Oh SHIIIIITTTT!" as the ground gave way, causing him to drop before the Fox Faunus cocked an arm back while aiming for an outstretched piece of asphalt as he called out "Grapple Arm!" before throwing a punch, causing the hand at the wrist to detach from the rest of the arm while a single cable linked the pair together. The detached hand closed the distance before successfully grabbing the piece of asphalt as the cable straightened out, causing Ryan's drop to come to an abrupt halt. Ryan closed his eyes in relief before a sound caused his eyes to widen as he looked at the source, the piece of road he grabbed was beginning to break off.

"Oh... Son of a bitch." Ryan stated in dread as the chunk of asphalt finally gave way, causing him to plummet once more as he saw he was falling into what looked like an underground city before landing on the roof of a ruined building. Ryan tried to stand up before the piece of roadwork he grabbed broke over his head, concussing him as a set of doors opened near him revealing a pair of figures that he couldn't discern. The pair exchanged an unknown set of words as Ryan felt a heavy impact on the back of his head before falling unconscious.

* * *

Yang had just finished her shift as lookout as she walked back to the still sleeping group, after staring at the fire for a bit, Yang walked up to the still sleeping heiress before waking her up.

"Hey Weiss, it's your..." Yang then noticed Ryan was absent from where he should have been sleeping "Ryan? Hey, where's Ryan?"

The rest of the group woke up to also see that the Fox Faunus was missing, with Amber becoming worried before she spoke "Somethings not right."

Oobleck looked at the group before giving an order "Grab your weapons! Mr Wilson may be in trouble."

* * *

"RRRRAGGH!" Ryan roared as he dashed at Roman, only for the master criminal to sidestep out of the way while Ryan tripped up and landed on his face. As the Fox Faunus used his legs and tails to stand back up, he thought about his current situation: After falling down that hole, he got knocked out before being brought to Roman, after having his arms bound by what he later heard was an alloy made using Fire Dust and waking up, he was brought back and spent a good few minutes trying to attack Torchwick even without access to his arms, only for Roman to avoid each attempt and taunt him each time.

"Wow! You are much more manageable without those arms of yours." Roman mocked with a laugh before Ryan dashed at him again, causing Roman to jump out of the way again but not before he saw the smirk that graced Ryan's lips. Ryan proceeded to slide downwards and spin around, allowing Ryan to trip up Roman with his tails while separating Roman and his hat as Ryan caught it between his teeth. Roman got up, annoyed at the surprise change in tactic before his eyes widened in shock at seeing his hat in Ryan's teeth until Ryan's mocking smile behind it caused Roman's eyes to narrow which only got worse with Ryan's next words, only slightly muffled by the hat in his teeth.

"Toro! Toro!" Roman roared in inarticulate rage as he ran forward and fired Melodic Cudgel. Ryan casually dodged each shot before sidestepping Roman and countering with a kick to Roman's back, causing the criminal to fall on his face while Ryan released the hat from his teeth which landed back on Roman's head.

"Ole!" Ryan snarked with a shit-eating grin as Roman got up with a scowl, but before the back and forth charging could continue, a massive explosion sounds from above, distracting everyone.

"Oh, what the..." Roman started before turning towards one of the White Fang soldiers "Perry, if you and the boys could take care of that? Kinda in the middle of something."

The soldier called Perry nodded and went off before a second explosion sounded.

" _WHAT_ is going on here?!" Roman asked, he and the remaining soldiers not noticing that Ryan was backing away before he silently spoke "Susano'o." causing two skeletal silver arms to manifest as he raised his bound arms, the extra arms gripping the metal bindings as he waited for a possible third. Ryan's prediction came true as a third explosion sounded while at the same time, the skeletal arms ripped the bindings apart before their owner turned behind him to see Fury in it's sheath, Ryan smiled as grabbed the blade and returned it to its proper place on his back. As Ryan turned back, he saw a few White Fang mooks run around the corner before his team, Zwei, Oobleck and Amber all ran round that same corner with Roman growling in annoyance before Ryan called out "You might wanna look behind you."

Roman and the soldiers with him all turned towards their former captive, Roman's eyes widening in shock before Ryan broke into a run, Roman regained his composure as the Fox Faunus ran past while he gave an order "Somebody kill him!"

Ryan proceeded to further reinforce his tails with Aura to shield against the flurry of gunfire coming from behind him before going down the same corner as the rest of the group, only to stop as a group of White Fang members were running towards him. Ryan engaged in a battle stance before an large explosion detonated behind them, sending them flying and revealing Yang along with the rest of the group.

"Nice to see you guys again." Ryan stated after running towards them.

"Are you okay?" Weiss asked before Ryan alleviated her worries "I'm good, but we've got a problem! Roman's got a small army's worth of weapons and mechs here."

"What?!" Blake asked in surprise.

"Yeah, Androids, Paladins, you name it, all loaded up in the train cars!"

"Ahhhh, that's ridiculous." Oobleck stated "These tunnels are sealed, the tracks lead to a dead-end."

As if to prove the doctor wrong, a set of speakers turned on with Roman's voice coming out "Get to your places, we are leaving now!" The rest of the group turned to see that the train was indeed leaving.

"Well, it sounds like they're going _somewhere_." Yang stated before Ruby took charge "We need backup. Let me call Jaune."

Ruby pulled out her scroll to try and call for Team JNPER, only to be greeted by the same Low Signal message that Ryan got.

"I can't get through!"

"So, what do we do?" Weiss asked before Oobleck responded "I believe we only have one option..."

Ruby proceeded to turn back to the train as she went into Leader Mode "We're stopping that train!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the long wait, had somethings I had to deal with before doing this.


	23. Chapter 23: Serene Rampage

As the train rushed through the tunnel, numerous White Fang members were patrolling through the cars while a sole guard was patrolling the caboose, the single guard looked outside to see a few rose petals blow past. Wary, the member pulled out a communication device before speaking into it.

"I think they're on the—" The guard's statement was cut off as he was decked by a metal fist belonging to Ryan before he climbed back up to the top of the train where his team, Oobleck, Amber and Zwei were waiting.

Once Ryan returned, Oobleck ordered "Hurry, everyone! We must get to the front and stop this train!"

"Um... Doctor?" Amber asked while looking down a hatch.

"Yes Amber?" Oobleck answered.

"What's that?" Oobleck walked up next to Amber and looked at what she was pointing at before he answered "That my dear... appears to be a bomb."

"WHAT?!" Ryan dashed towards the pair to see what looked like a remarkably well-made bomb, thankfully unarmed, inside the train car. "Oh shit." Ryan stated in dread before Ruby called out "We've got baddies!"

Ryan, Amber and Oobleck all turned to see dozens of White Fang troops climbing onto the top of the train. The group went into their combat stances as Oobleck spoke "Well, I didn't expect them to go-" the bomb in the car armed itself and started beeping as Oobleck spoke "-easy on us." the history teacher stood up as he gave a statement "Time to go!"

The group all started running onto the next car as Oobleck gave an order to Blake "Blake! Detach the caboose! It will kill us all!"

"On it." Blake answered before jumping down to the connectors and preparing to separate them before they detached on their own accord, confusing the Cat Faunus "Huh?" Blake then looked back up to Oobleck "It decoupled itself!"

"What?!"

"I guess he _really_ doesn't want us on this train." Yang stated as Oobleck watched the detached car lose speed before it detonated in the tunnel as the doctor commented "That's not good..."

"And this is worse!" Ryan said as he saw a second bomb inside the next car as Blake spoke "Another bomb?!"

" _No. No. No._ " Oobleck started as he ran to the next train car to find a third bomb before he realised out loud "They _ALL_ have bombs!"

The second bomb armed as the car decoupled, causing the rest of the group to run to the next car before Yang stated the unanimous response "This doesn't make sense!" Ryan nodded as he turned to see more White Fang grunts climb the train as one spoke "Get the Humans!"

Team RRWBY and Amber proceeded to rush at the grunts with Ryan starting the clash with a charging straight punch, flooring three grunts consecutively while Amber blasted a couple of mooks away with her staff's Fire Dust. Ryan turned to see the detached car detonate like the first but this time Grimm of multiple types came out of the hole created by the explosion.

"Oh fuckberries." Ryan stated as the Grimm horde were making a break towards the train.

"He's leading Grimm to the city!" Oobleck realised.

"What?" Weiss asked before Oobleck explained "It's the cars! They detach and explode, creating openings for the Grimm!"

"That's insane!" Blake stated before another car detached from the train.

"We have to hurry!" Oobleck started before turning to Ryan, Weiss, Blake and Yang "You four, go below and try to stop those bombs!"

"Got it!" Ryan answered as the quartet jumped down into the car before Yang spoke "I guess this is what we trained for."

Weiss wordlessly reached into her pouch and gave Blake a magazine filled with a few Dust vials.

"Here, this should help you." Weiss explained.

Blake nodded as she slid the magazine into Gambol Shroud before the quartet charged forward only to be stopped by the pink and brown haired girl that Ryan recalled to be Neo who landed in front of them. The girls all readied their weapons before being stopped by Ryan who smirked without taking his eyes off of Neo.

"You girls keep going. Pintsize is mine." Neo frowned as Yang, Blake and Weiss went forward, causing Neo to try and stop them only to narrowly avoid a light blue bolt of energy from Ryan which allowed the W, B and Y of Team RRWBY to get past while Neo glared at Ryan whose face showed none of his usual laid back nature.

"You caught me by surprise last time Neo. That ain't happening again." Ryan started as he drew Fury and went into a combat stance while Neo simply gave a sinister smile.

[[song: Night of Nights - Nick Nitro]]

Ryan leapt at Neo while thrusting Fury forward only for the dichromatic woman to shatter like glass, causing Ryan to growl in annoyance before he felt a heavy impact on his back, causing Ryan to topple over before righting himself and turning back to see Neo standing on the other side with a taunting smirk. Ryan dashed back at Neo before attacking a flurry of slashes which Neo parried with her parasol before stepping to Ryan's side and in front of an unmanned Paladin. Ryan noticed before throwing a punch that while Neo dodged it, the force of said punch was enough to outright dent the Paladin's chassis. Neo's eyes widened and temporarily flickered to white at the sight of the attack before she leapt back to put distance between herself and the Faunus.

 _"No matter what I do, she avoids and/or parries each attempt at an attack I make."_ Ryan thought before a thought crossed his mind which caused him to smirk _"But maybe..."_ Ryan proceeded to lunge at Neo once more with another stab, of which Neo shattered like glass again, this time Ryan was prepared as he used his fox ears to hear Neo behind him.

 _"Not this time."_ "Time Fracture!" As Ryan called out, everything came to a complete stop as his surroundings gained a lighting akin to a dense forest. Ryan turned to see Neo stock still in the air, looking like she was about to lunge at him with her parasol. Ryan smiled as he cocked a fist back and punched Neo's stomach before unleashing a second punch and repeating at a slowly growing pace until his arms were a blur. Ryan threw one last punch before he disengaged Time Fracture, the effects of each hit happening simultaneously as Neo was getting rapidly pummelled before she was sent sprawling onto her back. Neo silently winced before opening her eyes to see Ryan aiming the tip of Fury at Neo as her eyes turned white in abject terror. Ryan cocked his free arm back as it glowed with a green hue instead of the blue bolt from before.

[[song end]]

Ryan threw his arm towards the defenceless Neo as he called out "Trait of Kindness: Benevolent Repair!" while the green glow washed over Neo, her pain fading as her Aura regenerated at a remarkable pace. Once her Aura was restored, Ryan silently nodded before sheathing Fury and dashing to the direction that Yang, Blake and Weiss went, leaving Neo confused at the Faunus's action before she got up and left.

* * *

Ryan dashed through the cars, trying to find his female teammates until he encountered Roman, now unconscious and on the floor. Ryan narrowed his eyes before he silently spoke "Kamui." as Roman and his cane were sent to the technique's pocket dimension before the Faunus climbed back up to the roof of the train to find the rest of his team alongside Amber all grouped together and turning back to see Oobleck and Zwei dealing with a couple of Paladins. 

"What do we do?" Blake asked as Ryan turned back to see that they were gonna drive into a wall while Ruby and Weiss turned to each other and smiled before Weiss used her Ice Dust to form a barrier of ice to cover the group while they braced for impact.

* * *

 _"Dear god I'll be surprised if I don't get Tinnitus from this."_ Ryan thought as he slowly got up as he saw Amber resting a hand on her knee as she caught her breath while the others were at similar levels of recovery. Ryan realised that they were now in central Vale while civilians were noticing them among the debris. Ryan's fox ears twitched as he heard low rumbles and growls from the hole they came out of until a giant serpent that Ryan recalled to be a King Taijitu emerged while hordes of Grimm poured into Vale. Amber and most of Team RRWBY watched in horror at the sight while Ryan had a serious expression on his face before turning to the group "Well I _was_ gonna leave this as a surprise but no time like the present I guess." The rest of the group turned to Ryan as he called out "Kamui!" as a spatial vortex opened before revealing a mechanical wolf with a hybrid of sword, chainsaw and railgun attached to a mount on the wolf's back.

"Woah." Ruby stated before asking "What is that?"

"That, Ruby, is WM-58F or Fenrir for simplicity's sake." Ryan explained before a couple of Beowolves were dashing towards the group as a mechanical voice with an inflection of emotion spoke out.

"Threat detected."

Before Fenrir activated fully and rushed at the Beowolves, Fenrir's tail grabbed the handle of his weapon which caused it to detach from the mount before Fenrir pulled the trigger, firing a metal slug that reduced the first Beowolf's head to a fine black mist while the wolfen android stabbed the weapon into the second one's stomach, causing it to howl in agony before the teeth of the weapon's edges whirred as Fenrir forced the weapon up through the Grimm's body until the weapon was free and the Beowulf partially split open to the bottom of the original wound like a morbid flower before dissolving.

Fenrir turned back to see his creator with a smug grin on his face while his teammates and Amber stared slack-jawed at the display.

"As fun as it is to see the looks on your faces,-" The girls turned to face Ryan as he spoke "-we better get to dealing with some Grimm. And speaking of which." Ryan then proceeded to yell "MONTY!"

At the sound of a piercing screech, the girls turn to see a giant Nevermore fly towards them. Amber readied her staff before Ryan stopped her as the Nevermore landed.

Ryan smiled at seeing Monty again albeit this time he looked different, more specifically his eyes and the markings on his mask were instead of the usual menacing red, were a calming blue.

"Good." Ryan stated before turning to his leader "Ruby?"

Ruby snapped out of her shock to respond "Yeah?"

"Can I count on the rest of you to deal with the Grimm here?"

Ruby nodded resolutely.

"Perfect. Fenrir." Ryan turned to the cybernetic wolf "You stay and assist my teammates." Fenrir nodded as he spoke "Affirmative." Ryan nodded before turning "Amber." The Half-Maiden turned to Ryan "You're with me, I'd be doing a pretty shit job as your bodyguard if I willingly let you leave my sight." Amber nodded as Ryan ran towards Monty and mounted him before reaching a arm out to Amber who was understandably apprehensive "Don't worry. He won't bite."

Amber took Ryan's hand before he pulled her up to sit behind him on Monty's back before the Nevermore squawked in protest.

"Oh don't whine buddy." Ryan interrupted "I'll get you some more chocolate as payment once this is all said and done, okay?"

Monty chirped in joy before taking off as Ryan turned to his passenger "I've been meaning to ask Amber."

"Yes, Ryan?" Amber responded.

"Well I never thought I would be guarding a Lightvale of all people." Ryan admitted.

"What's so special about that?" Amber asked.

"Well there was a different and unrelated group of Lightvales I recall that also had an Amber."

"I would enjoy meeting them." Amber stated.

"If any of them were still alive let alone in this universe, you could." Ryan pointed out.

"What do you mean?" Amber asked, worried.

"I might as well explain." Ryan started "Long ago in a different universe there were two races: Humans and Monsters. One day, war broke out between both races with the Humans coming out on top. The defeated monsters were sealed in a mountain by a barrier that was created by seven wizards with soul magic, like the kind I used to help you." Amber's eyes widened as Ryan continued "Two of these wizards were siblings; Copper and Agate Lightvale, the Wizards of Determination and Bravery respectively. A few years had past since sealing the Monsters away and Copper wanted to remove the barrier and let the Monsters try to reintegrate back into society. Sadly Agate, ironically, was too fearful of what the consequences could be and challenged Copper into a battle to decide what should happen. Copper triumphed while Agate lost both the fight and her trait, but she just couldn't accept that and did something that she should not have. She changed her trait." Amber narrowed her eyes "With her new trait, Agate returned to Copper and their younger sister, Amber, and challenged Copper to a rematch with both being pretty even even though Copper was still doing better. So Agate did something that would work on her brother. Kill Amber." Amber gasped in horror "This caused Copper to lose his own trait and allowing Agate to end his life. But as a cost of forcibly changing her trait, Agate would soon die as well if not for the fact she had a contingency; Agate used another forbidden spell to combine her soul and Amber's corpse into a being that was neither Human nor Monster in order to keep both races from ever coexisting again, Bete Noire, The Black Beast."

Amber turned pale as Ryan finished while the kept flying before Ryan saw a group of people being chased by a stone golem.

"Petra Gigas! 10 o'clock" Ryan had Monty dive near the group as he and Amber leapt off before running towards the Grimm construct. Up close the pair could tell that the group was a family of three consisting of the father being Human while the mother and daughter were, from their visible extra features, Ryan could assume to be reptilian Faunus. The daughter tripped up from her running much to her parents' horror as the Petra Gigas readied an arm to flatten the girl until it was intervened by Ryan punching the golem away from her, staggering it as Ryan turned to the girl and smiled.

"You okay?" Ryan asked, getting a shaky nod from the girl "You better head to your parents, I'll deal with this nuisance." Once the girl ran off towards her parents, Ryan wordlessly turned to the Petra Gigas while drawing Fury.

[[song: Bonestrife - NyxTheShield]]

Ryan went into a combat stance as the Petra Gigas ran towards him before it attempted to smash him into the ground, only for Ryan to leap above the swing and press both his hands on the outstretched arm.

Ryan smirked as he fed kinetic energy through the stone so much the arm detonated, launching both him and the Grimm back as he landed next to Amber. Ryan's smirk left his face when the Petra Gigas simply replaced the lost arm with more stone while he turned to Amber.

"Okay. So taking it apart piece by piece doesn't work, so how about I reduce it to powder all at once." Ryan stated as he sheathed Fury before he called out "Impact Mode!" As his arms gained their familiar bulky physique, the ports on Ryan's shoulders opened as he flew towards the Petra Gigas while cocking an arm back as it's piston extended. The Grimm construct attempted to meet the Faunus halfway with a punch of it's own only for the clash to pulverise the Petra Giga's arm. But Ryan wasn't done yet as he cocked the other arm back before taking out one of it's legs and pulled both arms back again as he punched it directly on the main body, the stone exploding into a dust cloud.

[[song end]]

Ryan walked out of the dust cloud with a smile on his face while his arms were back to normal. Amber smiled in relief before she called out in a panic "Ryan! Look out!"

Ryan turned to see a Geist charging at him, most likely the Petra Gigas' original form. Ryan couldn't react quick enough to retaliate but he was able to put his right arm in front of his face. The Geist collided with the defending arm as it phased into it, the metallic grey of the arm turning a dark grey as the fingers sharpened into claws while red markings adorned it's being as the Geist's mask appeared on the shoulder before being covered by metal plating.

Ryan opened his eyes to see his arm's new look before turning to Amber with a combination of confusion and worry.

"Oookay. This is new." Ryan stated before the pair began running back to Monty.

* * *

Everyone was together at the Pavilion as they celebrated their success of defending Vale while Glynda was annoyed at the the fact Roman apparently escaped before everyone's attention was caught by a familiar voice.

"Hey everyone!"

Everyone present turned to the source before the eyes of everyone present except for Teams RRWBY, JNPER and Fenrir widened at seeing Ryan and Amber fly towards them on a giant Nevermore before the trio of Faunus, Maiden and Grimm landed in front of them, causing Port, Oobleck, Glynda, Sun, Neptune, Team CFVY, Emerald and Mercury to all ready their weapons before Ryan dismounted in a panic.

"Woah! Woah! Woah! Don't attack!" Ryan shouted before Mercury spoke "What do you mean don't attack!?"

"He means this Nevermore is on our side." Amber explained as she got off of Monty, Mercury and Emerald's eyes widening at seeing her alive and well.

"What?" Glynda asked before Ryan explained "Professor Goodwitch. You recall the start of Initiation when I was taken by a Nevermore, right?"

Glynda's eyes widened once more at the realisation "But how in the Brother Gods' name did you tame it?"

"My team and Team JNPER already know but turns out Monty has a taste for chocolate." Ryan answered while rubbing Monty's beak before remembering "Speaking of I will need to find someplace that sells chocolate as I had to bribe him to allow Amber to ride as a passenger."

Glynda, Port, Oobleck were silently blinking as if they couldn't believe what they heard before Ryan remembered a second thing.

"Oh shit, right. I forgot about Roman." Ryan stated before warping away and returning with Roman in a headlock while holding Melodic Cudgel in the other hand.

Ryan proceeded to shove Roman into the hands of two Atlesian Knights while handing Melodic Cudgel to a third Knight as the three mechs escorted Roman into an Atlesian airship.

"Well that takes care of that." Ryan said before a familiar sound alerted the group "Huh. Wonder what I've got this time." Ryan tapped the back of his left hand as the mechanical voice spoke out.

[[New Mode:

Terra Mode

New Utility:

Weapon Emulation System

]]

"Wait? Weapon Emulation System?" Ryan asked towards no one in particular.

[[song: OmegaΩ - NyxTheShield]]

[[The Weapon Emulation System is the pinnacle of weaponry. Through scouring the user's memory, the WES is capable of creating hard light copies of any weapon that function like the original even if the user has subpar memory. As the weapons created by the WES are made of hard light, they are practically indestructible. In short the WES can turn the user into a walking armoury.]]

Ryan smiled at the new info before trying to think of a weapon to create until one came across his mind.

From Ryan's hand formed a large azure sword that had an almost alien design to it as a white light pattern lined the edges.

Ryan laughed as the group looked at the blade that Ryan was now resting on his shoulder.

"What's this?" Port asked before Fenrir explained for Ryan "The Sentient great-sword, War. Despite being a heavy blade, War prioritises impact over splitting power but is capable of doing higher damage on weak spots."

"Correct, Fenrir." Ryan confirmed before War faded away once he spoke some more "Now I feel like we all need some rest now. Shall we head back to Beacon."

[[song end]]

* * *

[[Data Entry 50:

Species: Grimm

Sub-Species: King Taijitu

Universe of Origin: Remnant

With two equally dangerous heads capable of unleashing a potent toxin, the King Taijitu is certainly proof that two heads are better than one. Well for the Grimm at least.

Weapon(s): Fangs and Constriction

]]

[[Data Entry 51:

Name: WM-58F Fenrir

Species: Android

Age: Vers.1

Universe of Origin: Demonic Justice Remnant

Based of Penny and the LQ-84i model, Fenrir has been designed by Ryan to protect the innocent and provide defence against Grimm and White Fang alike.

Semblance: Undiscovered

Weapon(s): Voidsplitter (Weapon of Choice), Manipulator tail and Claws

]]

[[Data Entry 52:

Species: Grimm

Sub-Species: Geist: Petra Gigas

Universe of Origin: Remnant

The end result of a Geist possessing stone, a Petra Gigas boasts tremendous strength and durability, only exploitable weakness is the vulnerable mask of the Geist in question.

Weapon(s): Body and Stone segments

]]

[[Data Entry 53:

Species: Grimm

Sub-Species: Geist

Universe of Origin: Remnant

A unique sort of Grimm primarily of the fact it can possess any inanimate objects and use them as weapons and armour, ineffective in combat without possession materials and will usually flee from combat at the first chance.

Weapon(s): Varies

]]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To answer some things:  
> 1\. Fenrir will have some basis on Blade Wolf and the LQ-84 Fenrir models both in appearance and in weapons.  
> 2\. The WES will be similar to Mega Man's Variable Weapons System just based of of Ryan's memories rather than Robot Masters.  
> 3\. The Geist that possessed Ryan's arm will have importance later on in the story.  
> [[AN: Altered Fenrir's description of having no Semblance to not having it discovered yet.]]


	24. Chapter 24: Graceful Calamity

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before the you start reading the chapter, to compensate for Teams RRWBY and JNPER each having five members instead of the standard four, Blake and Ren will not be participating in the Tournament but instead, Ryan and Exetior will be taking their places for the matches for fairness and to change things up for the Tournament.

[[song: Alive 2019 - Brandon Yates]]

A few weeks passed since the Breach as the Vytal Festival Tournament was under way with it's first round having Team RRWBY (sans Blake) going up against Team ABRN from Haven Academy. Ryan himself was going up against who he recalled to be Reese Chloris as she attacked repetitively with her hoverboard, Ryan blocking and parrying each one with both Fury and a hardlight Tonbo before she tried to flip backwards and failed miserably and fell flat on her backside. Ryan snickered to himself before Reese got up and charged at him again as he sheathed Fury and exchanged the Tonbo for a pair of swords that resembled claws before crossing them to block an over head swing from Reese.

 _"God she won't quit it. But let's give her a surprise."_ Ryan leapt back as he called out "Shura Path!" causing an extra set of arms to form from his back and Reese's eyes to widen before he ran at her and slashed at the girl, Reese blocking the swings before retaliating with an overhead swing of her board. Ryan smirked as he transferred his swords to his second pair of arms before blocking the swing with them and countering with a dual punch to Reese's exposed stomach, knocking her back as he got rid of the swords and second arms. Reese collected herself before she looked to her side and saw her teammate Bolin toss some Fire Dust towards her, allowing Reese to infuse it into her hoverboard and use the flaming exhaust to free another teammate, which Ryan recalled to be Nadir, from some ice he was imprisoned in.

Ryan frowned as Reese came back and attempted run him down with her hoverboard. Ryan crossed his arms in front of him to block the attack only for the force to knock him off his feet, past a couple of Dust formations. Ryan growled before blasting the ground with a kinetic bolt, causing a smoke screen to hide himself as Reese flew at him and swept the smoke screen away revealing that Ryan was gone. Reese looked around to see Ryan slinking near a separate set of formations. Reese smiled as she flew at Ryan and spun her hoverboard into a flaming spiral, striking Ryan dead on. Reese's satisfaction turned to shock as Ryan dissipated in front of her. While she was distracted Ryan grabbed a hold of Reese's hoverboard before yanking it out from under her feet, giving Reese a second of realisation before Ryan batted her with her own board off of the stage.

"Ooh, a double whammy!" Professor Port announced from the sportscaster's desk he and Doctor Oobleck were at "Reese Chloris is eliminated by ring out and Aura level!"

"Oh, she really should've worn a helmet!" Oobleck quipped as Ryan tossed his defeated foe's board aside before turning to his teammates as Weiss constructed a giant ice hand to capture Bolin and Nadir before it turned into a ball that rolled around before the leader of Team ARBN and only member that Ryan didn't see yet, Arslan, punch the ball, causing it to shatter and free her teammates.

"Yang! Ryan!" the pair in question turn to Weiss and see her create a large ice slide "NOW!"

Ryan ran to the end of the ice slide as Yang blasted herself forward and across the ice before Ryan grabbed her legs as she went past and spun the both of them around, faster and faster, until they became a blur. Once enough speed was built up, Ryan tossed the now screaming Yang towards the three remaining members of Team ARBN as she cocked an arm back before unleashing a devastating punch, launching the trio off the stage.

[[song end]]

Ryan whooped as the buzzer sounded, signalling the end of the match as Port confirmed Team RRWBY's win "And that's the match! Team RRWBY is victorious!"

"We... did it?" Weiss said with genuine surprise while Ryan looked up in the stands to see Blake, Fenrir and Amber all celebrating the victory as well. Well Fenrir and Amber were at least.

* * *

"Is anyone else starving?" Ruby asked while slumped as Team RRWBY, Fenrir and Amber walked through the fairgrounds.

"I'm kind of hungry after that round actually." Ryan admitted as he had his hands in his jacket's pockets.

Weiss shrugged before sarcastically speaking "Gee, if only there was somewhere on campus to get food around here. _Oh, wait._ "

Ruby put a hand on Weiss's shoulder as she spoke, oblivious to the sarcasm "It's okay, Weiss, I forget about the fairgrounds, too."

"I was being facetious." Weiss stated as she knocked Ruby's hand away before the Red Reaper freaked out "Gah! Well if you were hungry, why didn't you say so!?"

Ryan snickered at the display before Yang spoke "Come on! I know just the place."

The group all proceeded to follow Yang before a voice called out "Hey! Might be hard to eat without this."

The group all turned to see Emerald holding a red wallet filled with lien, causing Ryan and Amber's eyes to slightly narrow, Fenrir's facial plates to close and Ruby to panic as she patted around her outfit "No, no, no, no!"

Emerald laughed a bit before greeting Ruby "Good to see you, Ruby."

Ruby took the wallet from Emerald and put it away before responding "Oh! Thanks, Emerald! Oh. Guess I dropped it. Girl pockets are the worst!" Ruby slouched as Yang spoke "What's up, Em?"

"Just left the stadium after your amazing fight! You guys were awesome!" Ryan's left ear twitched, causing Ryan's eyes to narrow further as he thought to himself _"She's lying."_

Ruby on the other hand was blushing from the praise before mumbling "Oh, shut your stupid little face..."

"I heard your team progressed to the next round too." Blake pointed out before Weiss started "You know, I feel that we haven't seen your other teammates."

"How'd they do in the fight?" Yang asked, causing Emerald to tilt her head up in thought, unaware that Ryan was using Fear magic to pry into her memories before she responded "Really well."

"That's great. Uh. Why don't we all go and get a victory food together?" Ruby offered before Emerald politely refused "Oh, gosh, that's so nice of you, but my teammates are all kind of..." Emerald looked back as she and the group saw Mercury sniffing the inside of a boot, disgusting Ryan and Amber as he looked perplexed before Emerald finished "...introverted. _Really_ socially awkward _."_

Yang nodded before conceding "Ooh, yeah, I could see that."

"Oh yeah, looks like Merc and I are going to move on to the doubles round. What about you guys?" Emerald asked.

"Well, as the leader of this team, I thought long and hard about this decision." Ruby started, looking proud of herself before Weiss interjected "We put it to a vote."

Ruby went sheepish as she backtracked "Yes, so, but I decided that we should put it to a vote."

"We voted for Weiss and Ryan." Blake stated.

Weiss curtsied before speaking "I will happily represent Team RWBY."

Ryan hmphed as he spoke "Yes. We are gonna blow past the competition."

Emerald's eyes widened a bit before returning to their original look as she laughed and spoke "Well, if Mercury and I see you down the line, don't think we'll go easy on ya."

Ryan and Weiss returned Emerald's cocky smirk with their own before Ryan spoke "We would be insulted if you did."

Emerald turned and walked away as the group did the same before she spoke "Alright, well we're going to catch some more fights."

"Have fun!" Ruby stated while waving, causing Emerald to respond in kind "See you later!"

Once the group was far enough away, Emerald's cheerful expression shifted to one of disgust as she walked with Mercury.

"So, how are the new friends?" Mercury snarked, causing Emerald to scowl in response before speaking "I hate them."

Mercury shrugged before responding "Orders are orders."

Emerald mashed her fingers together angrily as she spoke "I just... how can they be _so happy all the time_!?"

"Did you at least get what we want?" Mercury asked before being waved of by his partner "It's the heiress and the fox."

"W-what!?" Mercury stated in shock before collecting himself "Never mind, at least we know who we're working with."

* * *

A while passed by the time the group reached the place Yang was talking about; an unassuming hut with paper lanterns called 'A Simple Wok'. The group all sat on the stools outside while Fenrir lied down in between Ryan and Amber's stools before Yang gave her order.

"I'll have a bowl of the regular, please." in response, a large bowl of noodles slid to her.

Ruby stared at Yang's meal before asking "Oohhh... I'll take the same." Ruby was then greeted by a similar bowl of noodles as she clasped her hands in excitement.

Weiss had a look of concern before she tried asking "Do you have anything with a low-salt...?" before being interrupted by the same kind of noodles Yang and Ruby ordered sliding in front of her "Um... okay..."

Blake didn't say anything but rather smiled and nodded to the shopkeeper who returns the gesture before going inside and coming out to place a large noodle bowl topped with fish in front of the Cat Faunus, Blake's eyes lighting up as she drooled over her order.

"Can I get dumplings to go with mine instead?" Ryan asked before being greeted by a similar bowl while a side plate of dumplings slid next to it, causing Ryan's eyes to sparkle as he readied a pair of chopsticks.

"I'll just have some regular noodles." Amber requested before receiving her order and smiling.

Weiss looked at the very group she was part of before gladly offering her credit card to the shopkeeper, an action not unnoticed by Yang.

"Aw, Weiss! What's the occasion!?"

"Consider it thanks for sending me to the doubles round." Weiss explained before her card was flung back towards her as the shopkeeper, with an annoyed expression, pointed to the register as it beeped and showed the word 'Declined'.

"What?! How can my card be declined? I was barely into my monthly allowance!" Weiss exclaimed, causing Ryan and Blake to panic as Blake slowly slid her bowl closer and Ryan tried to stab a dumpling with his chopsticks before the shopkeeper disappeared with their food, as Blake slumped over while Ryan ended up embedding his chopsticks into the counter on complete accident.

"Nooo!!" Blake griped as Ryan's eye twitched at food being yanked from his grasp before a voice got their attention "Maybe I could help?"

The group all turned to see Pyrrha and the rest of Team JNPER approach the stand, causing Ruby to fling her arms wide in delight "Pyrrha!"

"Aw, you don't have to..." Yang tried to turn down the offer before Blake and Ryan simultaneously interrupted "But she could!!!"

"Well, I think you all earned it after that battle." Pyrrha stated before Jaune asked "Mind if we join you?"

* * *

Later on the group of twelve were sitting around on a large bench in different states, either content with their meals, or holding their stomachs sickly.

"Are you sure it's wise to have eaten before a fight?" Ren asked Pyrrha before she explained "Of course! It will give us energy!"

Ryan and Nora both gave glorious belches in conformation while Jaune was splayed over the bench before speaking sickly "If I barf, I'm blaming you."

"Ooh!" Nora started before getting an evil grin "Aim at the enemy!"

"Nora, that's disgusting." Ren stated before looking to Jaune "But if you feel the urge..."

Jaune weakly gave a thumbs up as he responded "Got it."

"Well, we should be off." Pyrrha stated as she got up before Ruby asked "So, you think you guys are ready?"

"Of course!" Nora answered "We've got a world-renowned fighter on our team, one of us is a literal demon,-" Ryan smirked at Exetior as the demon in question rolled his eyes "-I can bench five of me, Jaune, we trained all year, our weapons are awesome, Glynda barely yells at us anymore, and uh... Jaune!"

"Are you gonna take that?" Ren asked Jaune who conceded "She's not wrong." 

"I'm kidding, he knows I'm kidding." Nora started before talking faster and faster while getting more worried "Don't be so nervous! The worst that can happen is we lose, that is just a few more years of walking around school with everyone knowing we're failures, our friends will slowly abandon us to preserve their social status, we won't be able to show our faces in class, no one will sit with us in the cafeteria, Ren and I have no parents, we have no home left to go to, we'll be officially renamed Team Lose-iper!" Nora started laughing madly before it turned into sobbing as she slammed her head on the bench while Ryan, Exetior and Amber looked at each other awkwardly.

"So, yeah, we're feeling pretty good." Ren stated, completely unperturbed from what just happened.

"Don't fret." Pyrrha gave words of courage "If anything, we should be looking forward to a fight with actual guidelines, and not, well, ...murderers." Exetior whistled not-so-innocently at the end of that statement.

"Yeah, don't sweat it, we've all faced way worse before." Yang stated as Blake counted of the threats on her fingers "Let's see. Grimm invasions, violent extremists, a destructive sociopath..."

"And that's all while were still in training!" Ruby pointed out "Oh, imagine what it would be like to graduate!"

"Maybe then I'll be able to pay for a meal." Weiss sarcastically mumbled to herself as Ryan patted her back in sympathy before Port's voice came out of the intercoms "Would Team JNPER please report to the battlegrounds immediately!"

"Yes! Like they were scheduled to, several minutes ago!" Oobleck added, causing the rest of Team JNPER to stand up as Pyrrha spoke "Well, it looks like this is it."

"Go get 'em!" Ruby called out as the five all walked away from the rest of the group.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To list all weapons Ryan used in this chapter;  
> Tonbo - a large bladed staff with impressive cutting power.  
> Dual Keres - signature blades of the warframe Khora, capable of rending flesh and dealing even heavier damage.


	25. Chapter 25: Reunited Remnants

A while had passed as Team RRWBY, Amber and Ren walked to their seats, with Fenrir staying on the ground to explore, before Ryan turned to see Emerald and Mercury walking to the seats behind the group, Mercury holding a large tub filled with popcorn.

Ryan turned back to see Team JNPER (sans Ren) on a central stage, with Exetior wielding a large sword that looked like it was segmented and had both yellow and blue crystals embedded into each segment.

 _"Looks like Exetior finally got himself a new weapon."_ Ryan thought to himself before he heard a second voice in his head.

 _"Indeed."_ Ryan's eyes widened as the voice introduced himself _"Greetings Dustling. I am Nyx, the very Geist you faced in the breach a few weeks ago."_

 _"Ryan."_ The Fox Faunus introduced himself before asking _"Anyway, how are we able to speak to one another?"_

 _"It seems that my binding to your arm grants us the capability of communication."_ Nyx speculated before stating _"But never mind that, I believe you have a battle to witness currently."_

Ryan nodded to himself as he saw the field; Half of it now a forest while the other became a rocky outcropping.

* * *

[[song K.O. Computer - Therewolf Media]]

Exetior went into a sword fighting stance as he and the rest of his team focused on their opponents, Team BRNZ, before Port's voice was heard.

"3... 2... 1..." Jaune raised his sword as he spoke to his team "Come on guys!"

"BEGIN!" At Port's all clear, Team JNPER charged ahead but only three members of Team BRNZ responded in kind, both Exetior on the field and Ryan in the stands noticed as the sole female of the team, May, runs into the forest before Exetior and Nora rushed at Nolan with Nora almost blindsiding the cattle prod wielder with a swing from Magnhild before Nolan ducked and attempted to hit her with his cattle prod as Exetior heard gunfire as two rounds shattered the rocks behind him, causing the Arch-Demon to realise what's happened.

_"The girl is sniping at us."_

"R-R-Retreat!" At Jaune's stumbled order, the four all started running towards the mountain portion of the arena as Jaune and Pyrrha blocked the bullets with their shields before they all got behind cover.

"What do we do?" Pyrrha asked Jaune as bullets continued to fly over head.

Jaune looked over the edge to see Team BRNZ's melee fighters closing in before giving an order "Spread out! Try to keep moving!" Jaune blocked a punch with his shield as his team followed his orders; Pyrrha fighting BRNZ's leader, Brawnz, Jaune fighting Roy while Exetior tried dealing with Nolan again. Nolan looked towards the trees and nodded to the hidden May before she fired at Exetior's feet, causing the demon to jump around to avoid the hits. Nolan took advantage of his foe's distraction and whacked Exetior in the head with his cattle prod and counters a missed punch with a blow to the knee before jabbing his weapon into Exetior's chest, causing him to drop his sword and howl in pain as electricity coursed through his body. Nolan smiled as he pressed on only to be caught by surprise by Exetior smirking despite the pain before he spoke.

"Gotcha, bitch!" Exetior proceeded to grab Nolan's cattle prod with one hand and Nolan's head with the other, causing electricity to course over Nolan's body before Exetior shoved him off as he collapsed on his back, Aura in the red.

"And Nolan Porfirio is out via Aura depletion!" Port announced before Oobleck quipped "Talk about electrifying!"

Exetior caught his breath before dodging a bullet from May and retrieving his sword as he ran back to Nora who had a plan "Exetior!"

"Yes?" Exetior responded.

"Could you shock me with your Lightning Dust?" Exetior raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything before calmly placing the flat end of his sword on Nora's shoulder before activating the yellow crystals embedded in it to electrify the grenadier.

"Oh-ho! Looks like one of my favorite students, Nora Valkyrie, is charging up to use her Semblance!" Port announced, causing Exetior to smirk as he realised what she was planning.

"Yes, Ms. Valkyrie's Semblance lets her produce, as well as channel, electrical energy straight to her muscles! This allows her to jump explosively into the air, wield her mighty hammer, or in this case, absorb Exetior's energy and gain a boost in power!" Oobleck explained as Exetior removed his sword from Nora and spoke to her "Nora! Go assist Pyrrha and Jaune, I'll deal with the sniper!" Nora gave a mock salute before running towards her other teammates while Exetior rushed towards May, the sniper trying to shoot him as he parried each shot before Exetior pushed a button on his sword's handle, causing the segments to detach from one another as a cable links them all together to form a multi-bladed whip. Exetior spun the whip around before directing it towards the tree May was on slicing the tree off it's trunk and sending May into the air. Exetior smiled before using Soul Link to grab May with it's chains before pulling her towards him as he cocked a fist back and clotheslined her as the sniper went past, sending her into a spin towards her teammates as Jaune, Pyrrha and Nora knocked Brawnz and Roy towards her, the trio being caught in a crumpled heap as Exetior called out to his team with a smile "May I?"

At Jaune and Pyrrha's nods and Nora's thumbs up, Exetior activated the blue crystals in his whip as he swung it, creating a large typhoon of water to trap the remaining members of Team BRNZ before returning the whip to it's sword form and following up the water by activating the Lightning Dust, extending the sword's length and allowing Exetior to slice through the typhoon as May, Roy and Brawnz all standing, electricity crackling around them before they fell back into a heap.

"And Team BRNZ are all down by Aura depletion!" Port announced "Team JNPER wins!"

[[song end]]

As the spectators cheered for the battle, Exetior smiled at the praise before raising his sword in the air in triumph.

* * *

Team RRWBY and Amber all cheered for the group while Ren smiled in pride towards his team before he, Ryan and Amber all stood up, causing the rest of Team RRWBY to turn to them.

"Where are you going?" Ruby asked before Ryan answered "We're going to go congratulate them in person."

"I'm going on account of any unsavoury people staying away from Ryan and by extension, myself." Amber stated causing Emerald, Mercury and Cinder behind them to scowl at the predicament.

"My reason is the same as Ryan's." Ren answered simply.

"Oh." Ruby started "Well we'll see you later." Ryan gave a two fingered salute as he, Amber and Ren walked off to congratulate their friends.

* * *

"So. You were built with a soul?"

"Affirmative." Fenrir answered as he walked through Beacon campus while being mobbed by students of all years with many questions; Who he was? Who built him? What his weapon was? Frankly now was proof that even Mechanical lifeforms such as himself could get sick of this kind of situation. Fenrir would have drawn Voidsplitter right then and there if not for a chilling voice garnering the students' attention.

"I believe you all have better things to do than harass Fenrir, do you not?" All the students turned to see Professor Goodwitch with the most unamused frown on her face. Terrified, all the students moved as fast as possible while Fenrir turned to his saviour "My gratitude, Professor."

"I only did what was necessary." Glynda stated.

"In all honesty, I would have drawn Voidsplitter were it not for your intervention." Fenrir admitted as he and Glynda walked before the combat teacher asked "Any new news on the Geist in Mr. Wilson's arm?"

"I recently got a transmission from him stating that the Geist initiated communication with him before Team JNPER's match started." Glynda's eyes widened which did not go unnoticed from Fenrir's optical sensors as he added "Turns out the Geist was surprisingly affable, even giving my creator it's name, Nyx."

[[song: Waterfall - GENTLE LOVE]]

One of Glynda's eyebrows rose at the odd information but didn't speak of it but instead asked "Have you, Mr. Wilson and Amber had any run-ins with Miss Fall or her team since returning?"

"We only had one encounter with Miss Sustrai, trying to gain the trust of the rest of Team RRWBY. Ryan used Fear magic to stealthily probe her memories as she spoke."

Glynda was surprised at the news before asking "What did he learn?"

"Turns out Miss Fall was recruiting subordinates for her plan to steal Miss Lightvale's powers; She gave Miss Sustrai the promise of never going hungry again, implying the latter may feel indebted to her. They then recruited Mr. Black after they found him kill their original target and his father, Marcus Black. Later on they recruited Roman Torchwick which explains his dealings with the White Fang." Glynda nodded as Fenrir spoke "And speaking of the White Fang, Cinder, Emerald and Mercury attempted enlist one of the White Fang's leaders and Miss Belladonna's ex, Adam Taurus who refused because they, in his eyes, fight for a Human cause, something he won't sacrifice his troops for." Glynda was relieved before Fenrir continued "He also learned of how Amber was attacked by them; Emerald used her Semblance to set Amber up for an ambush. While the Fall Maiden had immense power at her disposal, her inexperience with said power led to her defeat. Turns out Ryan isn't the only one linked to the Grimm in some way, as Cinder used a sort of Parasitic Grimm to try and syphon off Amber's magic, only to be interrupted by a huntsman wielding a scythe not dissimilar to Miss Rose's."

"Qrow." Glynda stated causing Fenrir to turn to her as she explained "Her saviour is Miss Rose and Miss Xiao Long's uncle, Qrow Branwen."

Fenrir nodded before speaking again "Even with half of Amber's powers, Cinder returned to Adam and secured the White Fang's support with the threat of violence as well as the offer of Dust and hefty amounts of Lien."

[[song end]]

Glynda frowned at the development before a sound got both of their attention causing them to look towards the docking bays to see a unique airship with ribbons attached to the wings fly towards Beacon.

"Curious." Fenrir started before turning to Glynda "I don't recall any airships scheduled for entry."

"That's because it's an Atlesian airship." Glynda explained.

"Nonetheless I believe it would be best to examine the situation from a closer point." Fenrir stated, earning a nod from Glynda before running to the docking bays.

* * *

Weiss, Ruby and Exetior all were running towards the docking bays as Ruby asked "Weiss! What is the big deal!? Who is it? Who is _she_!?"

Weiss proceeded to stop and smile as she saw who she was looking for before answering "Winter."

Ruby and Exetior both stopped and looked as a white haired woman that resembled Weiss walk out of the airship alongside a few soldiers and a couple of Atlesian Knights.

"Wait... Your _sister_?" Ruby started before Weiss called out "Winter!"

The elder Schnee turned to the voice of her younger sister as she was greeted by the sight of her, Ruby and Exetior as Weiss greeted in joy "Winter! I'm so happy to see you! Oh..." Weiss collected herself before curtsying "Your presence honours us."

Winter looked around as she approached the trio while speaking "Beacon... It's been a long time. The air feels... different."

"I mean it is fall, so, eh, it's probably colder." Ruby tried to say before Weiss punched her in the shoulder, causing the reaper to gasp in pain while Weiss turned back to her sibling and asking "So, what are you doing here?"

"Classified." Winter answered.

"Oh, right. Well, how long are you staying?" Weiss asked again.

" _Classified_."

"Of course." Weiss smiled and nodded in understanding while Ruby looked around in the silence before speaking "Well... this is nice... I think."

"You're going to love it here!" Weiss started excitedly" I know you travel a lot, but so much of Beacon is different from Atlas!" Weiss then went into a whisper "Vale, too. The government and school are completely separate! Can you believe it!? I-"

Winter cut off her sister as she spoke "I'm more than familiar with how this kingdom handles its... _bureaucracy_. That is not why I came."

"Right! I'm sorry!" Weiss apologised "Nor did I come here to watch my own blood fail so miserably in battle. But it appears that I have no choice in the matter."

"But wait, they won!" Exetior stated in genuine confusion causing Winter to turn to him "Only a novice would refer to _that_ as a victory." Exetior frowned at being called a novice "I counted at least _three_ strikes missed." Winter then turned to her security as she gave an order "Leave us."

The Atlesian Knights obeyed the order given, walking two steps back in formation while Winter sighed and smiled a little more warmly at Weiss as she asked "How have you been?"

"Oh, splendid! Thank you for asking." Weiss answered cheerfully "I'm actually in the very top ranking of our sparring class! And the rest of my studies are going wonderfully, too! I'm-"

Weiss was cut off as Winter's hand met her head, making a lump on the heiress' head "Silence, you _boob_! I don't recall asking about your _ranking_ , I'm asking how you've _been_. Are you eating properly? Have you taken up any hobbies? Are you making new friends?"

"Well, there's Ruby." Weiss stated while Ruby giggled as she pushed the lump back into her partner's head "Heh, _boob_."

"I see. So this is the leader you wrote of. How appropriately... underwhelming." Winter stated.

"Uh... Thank you!" Ruby stated uncertainly before Winter greeted her "Greetings, Ruby Rose. I wish to thank you for taking an interest in my sister."

"Oh! Uh, yes, of course!" Ruby attempted to salute and curtsy "The honor is in my... court!" and failing miserably as she nearly lost her balance, flailing her arms and causing Exetior to chuckle a bit before Winter turned back to him "And you must be Exetior, General Ironwood told me as much as he could about you and your partner."

Exetior smiled as he responded "Just a bit fair warning though, if and when Ryan gets here do not remind him of the Emerald Forest incident if possible."

"I don't understand." Winter stated before Weiss explained "Ryan stated that while he was embarrassed the first time he was reminded of it, he now gets sick of anyone reminding him of that."

"Fair enough." Winter realised before stating to Weiss "I have business with the General and your Headmaster. But, seeing as I'm early, why don't you take me to your quarters?"

"Really?" the heiress asked in surprise.

"Yes. I wish to inspect them and make sure that they are up to my personal standards." Winter explained as she, Weiss and Exetior walked towards the Academy.

"Of course. Just so you're aware, the bunk beds only _look_ unstable."

" _Bunk beds?_ " Winter asked in veiled surprise.

* * *

A short while after the trio left Ruby, the group all walked to the courtyard before a slashing sound caught their attention, causing the three to turn to see one of the Atlesian Knights without it's head which rolled to them while a voice called out.

"Hey! Yeah, I'm talking to you, _Ice Queen_!" The headless Knight was tossed aside to reveal an adult man with greying black, spiky hair and wearing a dress shirt, pants and shoes but the two most noticeable features was the sword connected to his waist and the tattered red cloak draped across his shoulders. One of the still remaining Knights advanced while raising its rifle before Winter gave an order for it to stand down "Halt!"

Weiss walked up to the adult's face angrily as she spoke "Excuse me! Do you have any idea who you are talking to!?"

The man placed a hand on Weiss' face to stop her from talking "Sssshhh. Not you." before pushing her away as he continues moving, earning an indignant "Hey!" from Weiss as he looks at Winter as he clarifies his previous statement " **You**." Exetior's eye was caught by the sight of a raven of all things perched on a lamp post, almost looking at the situation as well before taking off and circling past the group before the demon turned back to the event unfolding as the man spoke "Saw that gaudy ship of yours in town. I guess you're here, too."

"I'm standing right before you." Winter pointed out, causing the man to squint and Exetior to realise what's happening _"He's drunk."_ as the man spoke "So it would seem."

"You realize you just destroyed Atlas Military property." Winter stated, referring to the scrapped Knight, causing the drunk man to start apologising sarcastically "Oh, oh I'm sorry. See, I mistook this for some sort of... _sentient_ garbage."

Winter walked over to face the man as she spoke "I don't have time for your immature games, _Qrow._ "

"Wait, you two know each other?" Weiss asked before the man referred to as Qrow started talking again "Geez, you Atlas Specialists think you're so special, don't you?"

"It's _in_ the title." Winter snarked before Qrow continued "Well, you know what you really are? A bunch of sellouts. Just like your boss."

"I'm not sure what you _think_ you're implying, but I've heard enough."

"Oh I heard, too. I heard ol' Ironwood finally turned his back on Ozpin."

"Ozpin?" Weiss asked before Winter shoved her aside as she spoke to her "Weiss, it's time for you to go."

"What-"

"Listen to big sister, Weiss." Qrow stated "She'll protect you. Just like Atlas is going to protect all of us, huh?"

"If you won't hold your tongue, then I will gladly remove it for you!" Winter drew her sword as Qrow gave the final words "Alright then..." the drunkard slicked his hair back "Come take it."

The square cleared as the pair were about to fight before a mechanical voice called out.

"Enough!" Winter and Qrow were both caught by surprise by a heavy slug creating a small crater in the ground, causing the duo to turn to see Fenrir slowly walk towards them as he remounted Voidsplitter onto his back while his faceplate opened up to reveal his optical sensors as he spoke some more "This is neither the time, nor place for this! I don't know about you." Fenrir gestured his Manipulator tail to Qrow before turning to Winter "But you're supposed to be disciplined, Specialist Schnee."

Winter stammered a bit at the scolding, while Qrow snickered at her being put in her place before Fenrir whacked him in the back of the head with his Manipulator tail.

"Ow!" Qrow griped before a commanding voice called out.

"What is the meaning of this!?"

Causing everyone to turn and see General Ironwood behind Qrow and Winter with Penny behind him.

"General Ironwood, sir!" Winter addressed the General as she lowered her sword.

"At ease, Specialist." Ironwood addressed Winter before turning to Fenrir with Penny looking at the wolfen android in wonder before asking Fenrir "What just happened, Fenrir?"

"This drunkard,-" Fenrir looked at Qrow who was still nursing the prior impact, before turning back to James "-attempted to goad Specialist Schnee into battling him by mocking you and Atlas' troops. She would have taken the bait if not for my intervention."

Ironwood sighed in annoyance as he placed a hand on his forehead while he spoke "Of course Qrow would do this." Fenrir was relieved that he wasn't designed like Penny because if he had eyes, they would have widened.

"Speaking of which,-" Ironwood turned to Qrow as he spoke "What are you doing _here_?"

"I could be asking you the same thing." Qrow countered.

"I-"

"Now, now, everyone." came Ozpin's voice as he and Glynda intervened before an argument could occur "There is a sanctioned fight happening just around the corner at the Colosseum, that I can assure you has better seats... and popcorn." Ozpin smiled as he swirled his cup of cocoa.

"Break it up, everyone! We will take care of this mess." Glynda stated before glaring at Qrow, James and Winter.

"Let's go." Ironwood told Winter and Penny before the three began to leave, with Penny gives a quiet wave to Fenrir who responded in kind with his Manipulator tail before an excited voice spoke out.

" _Uncle Qrow!!!_ " Fenrir turned to see Ruby hanging on to Qrow's arm as she continued "Hi. It's so good to see you! Did you miss me? Did you miss me!?"

"Nope." despite the answer, Qrow and Ruby shared a grin while the drunkard patted the red reaper's head before Ozpin called out "Qrow, Fenrir!"

Both Huntsman and android turned to look at the headmaster while Ruby is dropped before Ozpin continued "A word, please."

Fenrir looked at Qrow as the Huntsman had a small unheard conversation with his niece before exchanging a fist bump as he and Fenrir followed Ozpin and Glynda.

* * *

[[Data Entry 54:

Name: Fallen Grace

Instead of being a hybrid of firearm and melee weapon, Exetior's Fallen Grace is a hybrid of sword and whip, with Lightning and Water Dust crystals built into a Fire Dust alloy body, Fallen Grace removes the combat impracticality of standard whips and in sword form can be used in tandem with Soul Link to cleave entire buildings in twain.

]]

[[Data Entry 55:

Name: Winter Schnee

Species: Human

Age: Undefined (Within Mid-20s)

Universe Of Origin: Remnant

Specialist Winter Schnee of the Atlesian Military is the elder sister to Team RRWBY member Weiss Schnee and Right-Hand woman of General Ironwood, Regularly butts heads with Qrow Branwen.

Semblance: Glyphs

Weapon(s): Sword (Weapon of Choice), Summons

]]

[[Data Entry 56:

Name: Qrow Branwen

Species: Human

Age: Undefined (Between Late 30s to Early 40s)

Universe Of Origin: Remnant

Living proof of not judging by appearances, Qrow has proven time and time again that despite his usual state of perpetual drunkenness, he is a capable Huntsman and valuable asset to Ozpin. But he frequently butts heads with General Ironwood and Winter Schnee.

Semblance: Misfortune

Weapon(s): Harbinger (Weapon of Choice)

]]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My reasoning for the name of Exetior's weapon is tied to his history i.e. his fall from grace.


	26. Chapter 26: Cataclysmic Calm

It was late at night by the time the group of three huntsmen and one android reached Ozpin's office as the elevator doors opened to reveal Ironwood and Winter, both with serious expressions.

"What were you thinking!?" Winter started at Qrow before Ironwood added "If you were one of my men, I would have you shot!"

"If I was one of your men, I'd shoot myself." Qrow stated as the four entered the office and he pulled out a flask.

"While I wouldn't _condone_ his behavior,-" Glynda admitted before turning to Winter "-retaliating like you did certainly didn't help the situation."

"He was drunk!" Winter explained before Glynda countered "He's _always_ drunk!" everyone turned to Qrow as he was drinking from his flask, his eyes widened as he noticed the attention before he held the flask out to the side, looking at it awkwardly before grimacing.

Ozpin stared at the drunk before sighing and sitting behind his desk as he asked "Qrow, why are you here?"

"You've been out of contact for weeks! You can't just go dark like that in the field!" Ironwood started.

"I'm not one of your special operatives, _Jimmy!_ " Qrow barked.

" _General._ " Winter corrected, not that Qrow cared as he continued "Whatever. You sent me to get intel on our enemy, and I'm telling _you_ , our enemy is here."

"We know." Ironwood stated.

"Oh! Oh, you know! Well, thank goodness I'm out there risking my life to keep you all informed!"

"Qrow!" Fenrir barked out, causing everyone except for Ozpin and Fenrir himself to jump in surprise as Qrow turned to the android as he spoke "Listen I don't know why you are acting like this but we have already gathered information on our current threat, so quit your petulant, drunken whinging and listen!"

Qrow's eyes widened in shock at being treated like a child by a robotic canine while Winter smirked at the sight before Qrow asked "W-what?"

This time it was Ozpin's time to speak "Qrow. We have our own solution to our current problem. In fact, they are coming here right now."

As if on cue the elevator doors opened again to reveal Ryan, Exetior and Amber, all in varying states of wakefulness, Exetior looking like he was well-rested, Amber looking slightly tired and Ryan looked like he just rose from the dead.

"This better be worth getting us up so late, Ozpin." Ryan griped before the trio saw the group "Okay. Who are the new additions?"

Ozpin smiled as he explained "Ryan, Amber. The woman next to James is Specialist Winter Schnee of the Atlesian Military and Miss Schnee's sister."

Winter nodded as the trio looked at her before Ryan spoke "Hmm, Weiss' sister huh?"

"Yes. I assume you're one of my sister's teammates?" Winter asked.

Ryan nodded as he answered "Alongside Ruby, Yang and Blake." before turning to Qrow as Ozpin spoke again "Exetior, Amber. you two are already familiar with him but for Ryan's sake, this is Qrow Branwen a professional huntsman and Miss Rose and Miss Xiao Long's uncle."

Ryan nodded at Qrow who didn't respond as he saw Amber and dropped his flask in surprise before speaking "Amber?"

Amber smiled at Qrow before responding "It's me Qrow."

"But how...?" Qrow started to ask before Ozpin answered "Ryan has the means to repair souls via a secondary ability of his Semblance as well as the ability to use magic similar yet completely different to the likes of the Maidens."

"You're kidding right?" Qrow asked as he looked at his flask as if it was the actual cause of this.

"He's right." Ryan started before explaining "Whereas Maidens have elemental magic, I have soul magic." Ryan caused everyone's souls to manifest like he did before saving Amber, showing that Winter's soul had both Patience and Integrity as traits, Exetior's had Patience and Determination as traits, while Qrow's had Perseverance but also alternated to a grey.

"Hmm. So Qrow lost one of his traits." Ryan noticed.

"Lost his trait?" James asked causing Ryan to explain "Usually a person has a trait for essentially their entire life. But significant emotional trauma can cause a person to lose their traits."

Ozpin closed his eyes as he frowned "Most likely because of the death of Summer."

Ryan, Exetior and Amber all turned to Ozpin before Exetior asked "Who is Summer?"

"Miss Rose's mother and Miss Xiao Long's stepmother." Glynda asked before Ryan spoke "Oh sorry. But what happened to her?"

Qrow was the one to answer this time "She went on a mission and never came back, even Oz was in the dark on it."

Ryan nodded before asking "Any evidence of her demise?"

"Qrow retrieved a piece of Summer's cloak. But couldn't find anything else." Glynda stated.

Ryan hmphed to himself before stating "Kind of quick to assume that over a torn piece of fabric." Everyone turned to Ryan before he explained "I'm a thorough believer in requiring to see the body before confirming a death."

"Don't be naïve kid." Qrow stated bitterly.

"This isn't some childish naivety Qrow, this can apply to both ends of the moral spectrum. Think about it, what does one do when being constantly hounded on for one's entire life or to protect loved ones?"

"They fake their own death." Glynda realised causing Ryan to smile "Exactly, Goodwitch. Summer could simply set everything up to make it look like she died because why would anyone look for someone who is dead or harm their loved ones at that point. This keeps Ruby and Yang safe and allows her to work deeper into the shadows as a ghost without issue."

"He's right you know." came a different voice from Ryan's mouth, startling everyone except for Ozpin, Fenrir and Exetior and causing the pseudo-newcomer to introduce himself "Greetings everyone, I am Nyx."

"You're the Geist possessing Ryan's arm." Glynda stated, causing everyone except for Fenrir, Exetior, Glynda and Ozpin to draw their weapons on the Grimm who wasn't at all fazed by the amount of weapons aimed at him.

"Hehehe. Do not fret, Ryan is simply lending me the rest of his body to communicate to you all, he is free to regain control at any time." Everyone noticed that while Nyx was talking, Ryan's eyes were instead of his Rinnegan and Sharingan, were heterochromatic and had slits with his left eye being red while his right eye was blue and the fact a black marking almost like a tattoo was around his right eye, most likely from Nyx taking control.

"Okay then." Glynda started before asking "What do you mean he's right?"

"I mean my queen never managed to successfully put Mrs Rose down Professor. So Ryan's statement does hold far more sway than it appears to." Nyx explained, causing Exetior and Ozpin to smile before James asked "Then do you have any knowledge on _her_?"

"Unfortunately no. Due to possessing Ryan's arm, my connection to my que- Salem was severed, and most of what I do know, you most likely know as well."

"Salem?" Exetior asked causing Nyx to turn to him as he explained "You most likely think most Grimm are mindless beasts aside from elder and alpha Grimm." at Exetior's nod, Nyx continued "Well Salem is essentially a Dustling turned Grimm, she rules the Grimm and can use them as her eyes and ears."

Exetior thought about what Nyx said before smiling "Well it seems I have something in common." at the group's stare towards him, the Demon flatly explained "Long story short, I'm a literal demon. Ryan knew it from the get go, Team RRWBY, Team JNPER and Velvet learnt of it via either Ryan or myself."

Ozpin nodded at the news while Nyx looked up slightly before speaking to himself "Of course, you can have your body back Ryan." Nyx's eyes dilated while the markings around his right eye faded and the eye itself turned red as the owner's original voice spoke.

"God that was uncomfortable." Ryan stated as he slumped forward before straightening up.

"Nonetheless, our current threat is still here." Qrow pointed out to which Ryan countered "Yes but Cinder and her subordinates are disguised as students, if we try to apprehend them now... Well you know what happens next."

"Grimm."

"Yes so we need to play the long game. Wait for the moment where apprehending the trio and retrieving the stolen half of Amber's powers from Cinder will cause the least amount of negative emotions, otherwise we bring Grimm as a cost." Ryan explained as he reactivated his Rinnegan and Sharingan.

"Correct Ryan." Ozpin stated before addressing Ironwood "James. Continue with having your soldiers and Knights guard the Colosseum and Vale, we need to be prepared for any surprises."

"Of course Ozpin." James responded.

Ozpin then turned to Glynda and Fenrir "Glynda, Fenrir. Just in case there is another breach I want you to rally as many student's as possible to get the civilians out of Vale."

"Yes, Headmaster." Glynda answered while Fenrir responded "Affirmative."

Qrow was Ozpin's next focus "Qrow. You keep an eye on Miss Fall and her team and report any new information back to us."

"Got it." Qrow acknowledged before taking a swig from his flask.

"Ryan, Exetior. Continue with your battles in the tournament, currently you both serve as Wild Cards against Miss Fall so best we keep it that way."

"Roger." Ryan and Exetior responded simultaneously.

"Good. Winter and Amber are fine doing their tasks as is so I won't ask." Ozpin stated before turning to the Faunus, Demon and Half-Maiden "It would be best if the three of you rest now as Ryan and Exetior are both participating in the Doubles round I assume."

Ryan, Exetior and Amber all nodded before walking back into the elevator, Fenrir following suit.

* * *

[[Data Entry 57:

Name: Nyx

Species: Grimm: Geist: Alpha

Age: Unknown

Universe Of Origin: Demonic Justice Remnant

A unique case of a Grimm becoming symbiotic, Nyx is the first Grimm in Remnant's history to bond with a Huntsman, in his case, Ryan via Unity's right arm. Capable of at minimum, taking control of the possessed arm and at most with Ryan's permission only, full body possession.

Weapon(s): Unity Right Arm

]]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The reason the Chapter is so short is mostly due to me being unable to come up with any unique changes to what would happen for 'Lessons Learned' so think of this as Pseudo-Filler for the next Chapter.  
> Also, yeah, Super-Mom is alive in this, only being a ghost to everyone.


	27. Chapter 27: Tranquil Fury

Two days passed since Ryan, Exetior, Amber and Fenrir had their meeting with Ozpin as the four watched alongside Teams RRWBY and JNPER a match with Penny and another huntress, obviously her teammate, against Russel and Sky of Team CRDL which Penny's side was winning handily. Russel was running from a shit ton of explosions courtesy of Penny before turning towards her, only to be greeted by the smiling android as she summoned six of Floating Array's swords and launched them at the mohawked bully who just managed to get behind a rock as the swords were embedded in the stone.

Penny wasted no time as she repeated the same thing with Sky who used his halberd- _"So he fixed that."_ -to vault over another rock as the swords pierced it. Ryan could see the worry on Russel and Sky's faces from the stands while Penny grinned before turning to her teammate who simply tapped her watch. Penny proceeded to raise her arms as the swords lifted up the rocks they were stuck in, with Russel and Sky hanging on for dear life before Penny slammed both stones into the ground, depleting Russel and Sky's remaining Aura as the buzzer sounded while Floating Array's swords returned to Penny's pack.

"And victory goes to Penny and Ciel of Atlas!" Oobleck announced over the speaker.

Teams RRWBY, JNPER, Amber and Fenrir all cheered for the great match before Ryan, his team, Amber and Fenrir all got up and began to walk towards one of the exits to meet the victors.

"Yo, Penny!" Ryan called out, causing the android to turn to him with one of her usual smiles.

"Ryan!" Penny proceeded to tackle the Faunus into a hug, knocking the wind out of Ryan's lungs and sending them both onto the floor.

Ryan grunted before chuckling weakly "Nice to see you too."

Penny quickly got up as she gestured to her teammate "Ryan, this is my teammate."

"Ciel Soleil." the Huntress introduced herself.

Ryan got back up as he introduced himself "Greetings. I'm Ry-"

"Ryan Wilson." Ciel interrupted "17. Past before Beacon unknown. Strongest member of Team RRWBY. Status: Temperamental."

Ryan's expression went flat at being called temperamental before realising what she said prior "Wait, I'm considered the strongest member of my team?" Ryan snapped out of it before turning back to Penny "So, Penny! You two were amazing out there. But then again you two were up against members of Team CRDL so..."

"Penny?" Ciel looked at her watch and gestured towards it "I believe it is best if we move on to our next location."

Penny exchanged a look with Ryan before asking "Could we have just a minute to talk?"

Ciel checked the time before taking a step back and nodding.

"So, is she your friend or...?" Ryan asked.

"Well, in a way. She's like Blake, but if Blake was ordered to spend time with you." Penny explained.

"Oh, Weiss then."

"Precisely."

Ryan lowered his voice so only Penny could hear him "Does she know about the whole 'Android with a soul' thing?

Penny shook her head before responding "Oh no. General Ironwood doesn't really want anyone to know. There was an incident with a magnet, but I was able to play it off."

Ryan inwardly snickered at the possibility of what effects a magnet would have on Penny before the android girl went serious "Ryan, there's something I've been wanting to talk to you about." Penny glanced towards Ciel before leaning in and whispering to Ryan "I want to stay at Beacon."

Ryan's eyes widened before asking "Will they allow it?"

Penny's smile faded before gaining a mischievous grin "No, but I have a plan."

Ciel walked back up to Penny's side and pointed to her watch as she spoke "It's been precisely one minute, ma'am."

"I'll talk to you more soon, Ryan." Penny stated before she and Ciel began to leave. Penny turned to wave goodbye to Ryan who responded in kind before Port's voice came out of the stadium's speakers.

"Our next match will begin in 15 minutes!"

"Oh shit right!" Ryan realised "Mine and Weiss' fight!"

* * *

Later Ryan and Weiss were all ready and on the field with Ryan sharpening Fury with his Geist arm's fingers before stating "This is gonna be fun Weiss."

"Just remember to keep proper form." the heiress stated, causing Ryan to chuckle a bit before responding "Weiss, my Sharingan allows me to mimic fighting styles and techniques I myself am capable of perfectly. Like your swordsmanship or Yang's pugilistic fighting style." Ryan's tone shifted to a serious state as he asked "But anyway, you're from Atlas. Anything we should expect?"

Weiss rolled her eyes before answering "Well, seeing as their Kingdom, academy and armed forces are all merged as one, I think we can expect strict, militant fighters with advanced technology and carefully rehearsed strategies."

Both Hunters-in-training were caught by surprise as a rainbow trail zoomed past the pair before coming to a stop in front of them, revealing a pigtailed girl in roller blades with a cat tail swishing around her weapon, a pair of nunchaku, while next to a young man wearing a fedora and sunglasses, who had a trumpet in hand.

Ryan blinked a bit before stating to Weiss "Okay, subversion of expectation then. Well fuck my train of thought."

"Hey!" Weiss turned to the man as he gestured towards her with a smile "You Weiss Schnee, right? The heiress."

Weiss bowed her head, smiling at the recognition before responding "I am." while Ryan was racking his brain at the situation.

 _"Why does this feel familiar?_ _"_

"I take it you're pretty good with Dust, then?" the man asked, causing Weiss to shrug humbly before responding "I do my best."

_"I feel like this happened before."_

" Yeah, my dad was good too. Owned a little Dust shop of his own." the man stated while nodding his head, his eyes hidden by his shades before his smile shifted into a scowl and his tone turned hostile "Till your father's company ran him out of business."

"Oh wait, now I remember." Ryan stated to himself as Weiss responded to the man's statement "Oh." Weiss was ashamed now " I'm sorry to hear that."

"Sure you are." the man stated sarcastically, causing Ryan to speak "A little harsh to give her shit for something she effectively has no real control of."

"As if she can't control that." the girl stated, causing Ryan to scowl before responding "Terra Mode!"

Ryan was then rapidly covered by rapidly coalescing rock until a cocoon was formed before a metal fist punched out, breaking the cocoon and revealing Ryan as stone crags jutted out of Unity's left shoulder, and lined the back of both arms while smaller rocks appeared to have sprouted from his back and across each of his tails.

"Weiss." the heiress turned to Ryan as he spoke "I'll deal with the mouthy feline, you deal with the musician." Weiss nodded as the field opened to revealing a four-way of a volcanic area, sandy desert, steaming geysers and ruined buildings.

[[song: Days of Booster Past - Brandon Yates]]

The four participants readied themselves as Port announced "Three! Two! One! Begin!"

As soon as the fight began, Flynt raised his trumpet to his lips and blew, which created a sound wave that blew Ryan and Weiss back. Weiss was able to stop herself with a glyph, but Neon used the force of Flynt's attack to ram Ryan into the city portion of the field. Ryan righted himself before manipulating the ground to send spikes towards Neon who rolled away from each and every one while making mocking gestures which only served to annoy the Fox Faunus.

 _"Ryan._ _"_ Nyx spoke in Ryan's head _"Don't let her get to you."_

Ryan shook his head before focusing again _"Okay."_

Neon proceeded to charge at Ryan again, becoming a rainbow blur as she pelted Ryan with a barrage of hits from her nunchaku, whittling down Ryan's aura bit by bit before the Fox Faunus attempted to deck her, only for Neon to avoid the swing before he turns around to find the Cat Faunus smirking before cracking her nunchaku like glowsticks as she charges at Ryan again, going past him before he realized his right leg was encased in ice.

"What!?" Ryan exclaimed before turning to Neon who pulled an eyelid down while sticking her tongue out in a mocking display. Ryan growled while breaking the ice with a punch before his left arm was encased in ice as well. Neon started gaining speed before slamming Ryan into a wall, causing it to crack from the impact.

Ryan grunted before slamming his frozen arm onto the wall, shattering both the ice and the wall itself as he ran at Neon again manipulating the ground beneath him to transform into sand as he surfed across it to try and catch up to Neon, only catching a glimpse from the corner of his eye of Weiss being blasted away by four Flynts causing him to realise in annoyance.

_"Another duplication Semblance. Really?"_

Ryan pressed onto the task at hand as he leapt off of the sand wave to try and embed Neon into the ground with a punch, only to miss and allow her to capitalize on this and speed around while freezing his Grimm arm and both his legs.

"Shit!" Ryan exclaimed before Neon was about to finish him with one more swing. Time seemed to slow down for Ryan as he closed his eyes, before opening them to reveal blue lightning pouring out of them. Ryan roared as a blast of pressure freed him from his bindings while Neon was knocked off her roller-skates. Ryan capitalized on this second wind by reverting to his base form and cocking an arm back, before the cocked arm's hand opened to reveal a crackling orb of black lightning as he blasted Neon away with it and following up by throwing a hard light kunai past the Cat Faunus as he triggered a special ability from his Rinnegan.

"Amenotejikara!"

Causing the Fox Faunus to switch places with the kunai and prepare a vicious backwards bicycle kick that cratered the surrounding area as it connected, depleting Neon's aura to the red.

"And Neon Katt is down by Aura depletion." Port announced as Ryan turned to Weiss and Flynt, eyes still glowing as he called out "Weiss!"

The heiress turned to see Ryan before he started "Time for a case of Flashfreeze!"

Weiss smiled at the team attack name as she used a glyph to send her back towards Ryan before creating a black glyph to hold Flynt in place while creating a series of Time Dilation glyphs between her teammate and the musician.

"Perfect." Ryan stated before using his Semblance to pick up energy as he sped across the yellow glyphs which further enhanced his speed and caused him to turn invisible.

Ryan proceeded to perform a sweeping kick to Flynt's legs before charging up a large ball of kinetic energy and slamming it into the musician causing a large blast, depleting Flynt's aura to the red and ending the match.

[[song end]]

"Weiss Schnee and Ryan Wilson of Team RRWBY wins!" Port announced before Oobleck quipped "Now that was an energetic ending!"

Ryan sighed as the glow from his eyes faded revealing his Rinnegan and Sharingan again before turning to Weiss.

"Okay that actually was a fair bit of a challenge." Ryan admitted as Weiss smiled before a voice called out.

" _ **WHAT!?**_ We lost? We lost?" the heiress and Nine Tailed fox turned to see Neon standing as she was devoid of colour "Team FNKI lost? That was... that was..." All colour returned to the Cat Faunus as rainbow coloured sparkles filled her eyes "... amazing! Oh my gosh, you guys were super crazy awesome! We should definitely party together sometime, right Flynt?"

Weiss and Ryan turned to see Flynt stand back up as he addressed Weiss "That was a gutsy move, Schnee." the musician paused before adding "I dig it."

Weiss and Ryan smiled at the good sportsmanship from their opponents despite the loss before they looked towards their friends in satisfaction.

* * *

[[Data Entry 58:

Name: Terra Mode

User: Ryan Wilson

One of Project Unity's toughest modes, Terra Mode grants the user terrakinesis while enhancing their durability and endurance.

]]

[[Data Entry 59:

Name: Onyx Chidori

User: Ryan Wilson

A technique created via a combination of a Standard Chidori and Six Paths Chakra, the Onyx Chidori is the strongest of all of it's variants.

]]

[[Data Entry 60:

Name: Amenotejikara

User: Ryan Wilson

An unmatched transportation technique, Amenotejikara, or Heavenly Hand Power, allows the user to switch places with anything within their field of vison from small objects to other beings to extend attacks or to avoid unnecessary damage.

]]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bear in mind I made this a day after the release of the Lucario vs Blaziken DBX on YouTube (Check it out, it's glorious.), so how both Neon and Flynt were taken down took some cues from that via Ryan.  
> Also yeah. Cybernetic arms won't stop Ryan from using Elemental Release techniques.


	28. Chapter 28: Peaceful Armageddon

"Now, for the moment you've all been waiting for! The one-on-one finals!" Port announced as the eight finalists were standing in the middle of the arena. Ryan and Exetior smirked at one another before Ryan looked ahead to see the rest of his potential opponents, the ones he could recognise were Sun, Penny and Mercury along with three others he didn't know.

"Barty, why don't you explain the rules?" Port asked his co-host who started "Ah, it's quite simple, Peter. Instead of a bracket system, each round of the finals will be randomly determined _immediately_ before the match takes place!"

"Much like any good hunt, there will be zero time to prepare!" Port added.

"Ah, yes, yes! Now, let's see who our first match will be!" Oobleck wondered as he pointed towards the stadium screens as the roulette of finalists began spinning, the atmosphere tense before the first two fighters were revealed.

"Exetior and Mercury Black!" Port announced as Ryan turned to his partner and exchanged a fist bump before Ryan spoke to the demon quietly.

"Kick his ass for me would you?" Exetior smiled before responding "I'll do my best."

[[song: Force and Lightning - Therewolf Media]]

"Would all other combatants please leave the stage!" at Port's request, everyone except for Exetior and Mercury did as was asked and exited the arena as the demon and huntsman walked up near each other.

"So. You're Mercury huh?" Exetior asked.

"Yeah so?" the kick based huntsman responded.

"Since my partner got denied a good match back at Beacon, you better not pull that same shit with me."

Mercury was in silent shock as he realised what Exetior meant.

_"This guy is Ryan's partner!?"_

Once the arena was fully set up for the match, the pair went into their respective stances.

"Three! Two! One! Fight!" immediately as Port gave the go ahead, Exetior swung at Mercury with Fallen Grace who quickly met it with a kick, causing a shockwave that launched the two fighters backwards. Mercury quickly closed the distance before firing a shot from his greaves, only for Exetior to avoid and counter with a wave of water from his blade that Mercury jumped over before running towards the demon as he sheathed Fallen Grace while wrapping his arms with Soul Link's chains. The pair fought fist to fist for a bit before both exchanged heavy blows.

Mercury shot himself into the air to get away from Exetior who was smiling as he reached into a satchel on his hip before pulling out a small amount of dark orange Dust crystals. Without hesitation, Exetior tossed one crystal into the air before grabbing it with his other hand while feeding Aura into the same hand. Exetior smirked as he threw the Dust, which was now a large boulder, at his opponent who dodged it. The demon repeated this with the rest of the Dust crystals while Mercury dodged each one before attempting to attack him with an aerial axe kick. Exetior redrew Fallen Grace before blocking with the flat side of the blade only for Mercury to take advantage as he got below the sword and unleashed a kick to his exposed stomach.

Exetior grimaced at the hit before grabbing Mercury's attacking leg and tossing him further away. Exetior didn't give Mercury any breathing room as he rapidly closed the distance before unleashing an uppercut that sent Mercury into the air. Exetior smiled as he reached into his satchel to procure an assortment of Fire, Ice and Lightning Dust crystals before tossing the mix towards the vulnerable Mercury. Exetior shifted Fallen Grace into its whip form before using it to activate the Dust mix and engulf Mercury in an explosion of fire, ice and lightning. Mercury hit the ground while his Aura was now in the red, ending the match.

[[song end]]

Exetior sighed in relief before raising Fallen Grace up high as it reverted back to sword form while Port announced "What a way to kick off the finals!"

"Exetior wins!" Oobleck announced as the stage was enclosed by the stadium floor.

Exetior smiled before turning to the now hunched over Mercury as he spoke "Better luck next time Mercury." before walking towards the exit, unaware that Mercury was slowly getting up.

"There's not going be a next time, _**Asshole**_!" Mercury proceeded to attempt to run at and kick Exetior in a murderous rage before he fell over.

"What the hell!?" Mercury exclaimed before noticing one of his prosthetic legs was gone and seeing Exetior behind him holding said leg.

"Really?" Exetior asked flatly while examining the fake limb "Couldn't just bite down on your pride and let me leave?"

Everyone spectating watched Mercury's attempt at attacking the demon before a trio of guards came to the arena as Exetior turned to speak to them "Take the sore loser away. Someone like him should never have participated in this tournament in the first place."

The guards nodded before two grabbed hold of Mercury's arms while the third took the prosthetic from Exetior and escorted the huntsman out of the arena.

* * *

Ryan frowned at the display while everyone looked at what happened with looks of shock, disgust or horror.

 _"Kind of a sore reaction_ _don't you think Nyx?"_ Ryan asked the Geist.

 _"Yes. But unfortunately I can feel the intense negativity pouring off of these spectators. Which means other Grimm do too."_ Nyx stated.

 _"Shit. This may actually help Cinder."_ Ryan realised.

* * *

"You idiot!" Emerald yelled at Mercury as he struggled to reattach his prosthetic leg "Why did you do that!?"

Mercury hmphed before responding "It got our results didn't it?"

"That's not the point! Thanks to your tantrum, we now have people suspicious of us."

"Enough." Emerald flinched before turning to Cinder as she spoke "From what Adam has told us, Mercury's actions indeed have caused the Grimm to become restless."

"Gee I feel so proud of getting my ass kicked." Mercury dryly snarked before Cinder asked him "How was he able to defeat you in the first place?"

Mercury scowled at the memory before answering "I don't know how but from how he fought, it felt like he had far more experience fighting than even someone like my father. He knew exactly what to do against me and from what he said, Ryan is his partner."

Cinder closed her eyes in thought before responding "We will keep watch for the most part. Considering the information on the both of them we can cause a perfect distraction to recover what is rightfully mine."

"Are you sure they'll face each other?" Emerald asked.

"It will not be a matter of if." Cinder stated as she opened her eyes as orange energy poured out of them "Only when."

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well that wasn't fucking ominous. Ahem. For those wondering why Mercury was taken away was due to unlike his stint against Yang in canon, Exetior stomping him pissed him off enough to do it in reality rather than Emerald's hallucination only making it look like he was doing it to Exetior.  
> Also the final match will be Ryan vs. Exetior so the next Chapter will be Ryan vs. Penny.


	29. Chapter 29: Natural Mechanisation

A few hours had passed since Exetior's fight against Mercury as well as Mercury's attack and now the second fight was between Penny and Ryan as the android girl and Fox Faunus both looked at each other and smiled.

"I've long waited for a challenge Penny. I know you will not disappoint me from what I've seen." Ryan stated, causing Penny to beam as Floating Array came out of her pack before she responded "Indeed. I'll expect nothing less from you either Ryan."

[[song: So at Last - Ray Casarez]]

Ryan chuckled as he drew Fury and went into a fighting stance before Oobleck spoke "3, 2, 1... BEGIN!"

Both Ryan and Floating Array lunged towards each other, Ryan parrying each blade as he ran straight for Penny only for the android to use two of her blades to pull herself away from an incoming stab.

Ryan smirked at the fact he will need to earn his victory before Floating Array's swords all opened up. Penny punched the air in front of her, causing a wide, combined, green beam to be fired from Floating Array's swords. Ryan's eyes widened as he thought of a defence, creating a large hard light skull to form in front of him. Ryan fed his magic through the skull, causing it to open it's mouth and fire a similarly large, light blue beam that clashed with Penny's own, cancelling both out.

Ryan willed the skull away only to be met with Floating Array's swords coming at him. With no time to dodge or counter, Ryan crossed his arms as the swords slashed at him from all sides, his Aura lessening the damage while his clothes were getting cut.

Ryan strained before pushing his arms out, creating a blast of air to get rid of the swords while shredding what was left of his jacket and shirt.

Exetior from the stands, looked around the stadium to see most of the female audience either drooling, bleeding from their noses or both, causing him to raise one of his eyebrows in confusion before noticing Amber, and Emerald behind her, also in a similar state.

Ryan was unaware of this as he called out "Pyro Mode!" wreathing him in flames before revealing the burning fox as he threw a punch at Penny, sending a fireball towards the android before quickly calling out "Vortex Mode!" exchanging the fire for wind as he threw a second punch, this time sending a blast of compressed air to follow the fireball. Penny willed two of Floating Array's swords to block the fireball only for the compression blast to collide with the flames, causing an explosion that knocked Penny away.

Penny righted herself mid-air before sending Floating Array's swords towards Ryan who began to run, dodging each and every one of the swords as he spear tackled Penny as she landed before shoving her backwards. Penny skidded across the ground as she saw Ryan ready another punch, causing her to ready her swords for defence before Ryan threw his punch, creating an even larger compression blast. The blast collided with Penny's Floating Array before it forced the blades away, allowing Ryan to wrap the match up with a charging jump kick that knocked Penny off the stage.

[[song end]]

Ryan sighed before reverting back as the buzzer sounded, signifying his victory before Oobleck announced "An outstanding victory for Ryan Wilson of Team RRWBY!"

The crowd all cheered for the amazing display while a couple of still distracted women pulled out their scrolls and took pictures of the now topless Fox Faunus as he raised Fury in triumph before sheathing it and walking towards his now defeated foe who was smiling despite losing.

"Hehehe. You certainly didn't disappoint me, Penny." Ryan stated as he extended a hand to Penny who accepted it as he pulled her to her feet.

"Thank you. I enjoyed that battle despite me losing." Penny responded as Ryan chuckled before speaking "There's a good sport."

* * *

"Now that was an amazing fight!" Ryan stated as he put on a replacement shirt back at his team's dorm, finally causing the blushes on his teammates' faces to fade away.

"Yeah." Yang started "Nice use of your arms and sword by the way."

"Yep!" Ryan chirped as he placed Fury on to the ground before reaching for a stress ball from his box next to the window "Now that I beat Penny I just have my match against Exetior to look forward to."

"Are you sure you will face him?" Weiss asked, causing Ryan to respond "Girls, Exetior has fought the Highest for longer than a few lifetimes before he and I came to Remnant. No offense to Sun or the other finalists but Exetior handily beats them in experience unless they're somehow immortal and lived for a similar length as he did."

"Yeah, still wondering how he's that old yet looks no older than us." Ruby stated.

"Simple really." Ryan started "The body he has that we see is a vessel, his true form exists on a plane only similar or higher beings can see."

"A vessel?" Blake asked.

"Ehh I don't know what kind of vessel it is. It could have been constructed by him or he's possessing Sonic's body. I'll have to ask him for info when I get the chance." Ryan admitted while squeezing his stress ball.

"So if it goes down...?" Ruby started before Ryan answered "He'll be fine. He'll just will need a new body as a replacement."

"How do you know this?" Yang asked.

"Well in one alternate timeline in Exetior's universe involved one of his next victims, Amy Rose, beheading Exetior's apprentice, Negagen. This didn't kill him but it did put him out of commission for a while." the girls all blanched at how casual Ryan was while saying this "Since Negagen is a Wave Demon and a lesser demon compared to Exetior, it's safe to assume our friendly neighbourhood demon can do it too."

"Ignoring the fact you're not disturbed by what you just said, I'm glad he's at least on our side." Weiss stated.

"Tell me about it. We could have lucked out and gotten Sark, then no one would be safe, especially women." Ryan pointed out.

"How dangerous is Sark then?" Blake asked.

"Well you know Adam, right? Well Sark makes him look like Remnant's greatest hero by comparison. He has no qualms playing with his so called 'toys' until they break. And most of his thralls are only marginally better."

"Most?" Ruby asked.

"The only exception to this is Sark's version of Amy, nicknamed Rosy. She is completely timid and actually a kind-hearted soul even after being demonized." Ryan explained.

The girls all looked at each other in thought before turning to Ryan as Ruby spoke "Well we best cheer up! Ryan won his first final's round for our team."

The atmosphere almost returned to it's original state while Blake was internally panicking from what Ryan said.

_"S-Sark is worse than Adam!?"_

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hmm didn't originally plan on having Ryan explain Exetior and Sark more to his team but at least it wasn't as short and cements how things are in Mobius compared to Remnant.  
> Also yeah, if you weren't expecting Gaster Blasters from a guy who uses soul magic I don't know what to say to you.


	30. Chapter 30: Glacial Blaze

A couple days passed as the finals flew by as Ryan and Exetior stood in front of each other on the stage.

"So." Ryan started with a smile "Just us left for this huh?"

"Indeed." Exetior responded in kind "As partners, we would give each other the best possible challenge for the finals."

Ryan chuckled as the pair drew their respective swords and went into their stances as Port announced.

[[song: Spider Dance - NateWantsToBattle]]

"3..."

Ryan activated his Sharingan and Rinnegan.

"2..."

Exetior's left arm darkened in preparation for Soul Link's use.

"1..."

Both sides tightened their grips on their sword's handles.

"Begin!"

Ryan and Exetior dashed towards each other with the demon starting with sending a wave of lightning from Fallen Grace to which Ryan narrowly avoided before he attempted to slash at Exetior with Fury, only for his partner to use Soul Link to create a makeshift shield and block the swing.

Ryan smirked at his partner's creativity before activating Unity's thrusters to push Exetior back, forcing him to stop himself by digging Fallen Grace into the ground and giving Ryan an opening to punch Exetior in the face with his free hand.

Exetior slid back before rubbing his jaw as Ryan smirked a fair bit away while sheathing Fury as he created a new weapon; A dual bladed staff that looked like it consisted of multiple arms. Exetior growled before running towards Ryan while activating Fallen Grace's whip mode and engaging in a clash between whip and staff as Ryan's staff loosened to mirror Fallen Grace's own slashes. The display continued before Exetior successfully disarmed Ryan of his staff, causing him to look back as it embedded into the ground behind him which allowed his partner to bind him with Fallen Grace.

"Not bad." Exetior stated before gripping Fallen Grace's handle with both hands "But not good enough."

Exetior proceeded to swing Fallen Grace over his head and behind him, causing Ryan to follow and hit the floor hard enough to dent it.

Ryan flinched in pain before looking at the staff still embedded in the floor. Smiling, Ryan focused on the staff before blinking out of existence and being replaced by the very same staff, causing Exetior's eyes to widen before hearing Ryan's voice.

"Pyro Mode!"

Exetior turned to see Ryan in his familiar flaming state as he launched a fireball, causing Exetior to revert Fallen Grace to it's sword form before leaping out of the way.

"Okay time to beat you down, hard and fast." Exetior stated under his breath before fading away.

"Of course." Ryan stated as Exetior sped around fast enough that he was in multiple places at once.

While everyone in the stands were struggling to keep track of Exetior, Ryan smiled as his Sharingan allowed him to keep his focus before he was about to be jumped by five Exetiors from both his sides and above him. Ryan proceeded to systematically pummel each individual copy one by one before reaching the final one, the real Exetior, and unleashing an axe kick that slammed the demon into the floor while dissipating the fakes as Exetior's Aura was in the red.

[[song end]]

Ryan landed back on the ground as the buzzer sounded, signalling his victory as Oobleck announced "What a way to finish the tournament! Ryan Wilson wins!"

Ryan smiled at the fact as the crowd cheered before walking to Exetior who got up to a sitting position as he rubbed his head.

"Ow. You could have held back a little longer you know." Exetior griped before accepting Ryan's hand to lift him up.

"Yeah but I rather not risk losing because of holding back." Ryan admitted before speaking again "Trait of Kindness: Benevolent Repair!"

Faint green magic washed over Exetior's body, dulling his pain while restoring his body and Aura to peak condition. Exetior smiled before a round was fired, Ryan only barely able to deflect it with Fury as he turned to see an Atlesian Soldier wielding a rifle being the perpetrator as he yelled out.

"Die Grimm!"

Ryan parried more gunfire before vanishing, the soldier aiming his rifle frantically before Ryan reappeared and stopped the soldier with a simple neck chop, knocking the soldier out.

But the damage was done, all the audience that weren't Huntsmen went into a complete panic from the unexpected action as Nyx spoke to Ryan in genuine concern.

_"No! All this negative emotion will be causing even Grimm at Mountain Glenn to swarm Vale!"_

Ryan's eyes widened as he vanished back to Exetior and then warped both of them to their teams, all distressed from seeing the action.

"What happened?! Why did he attack you?!" Amber asked.

"From what he said before I subdued him, he thought I was a Grimm." Ryan answered, causing Weiss to ask "How?!"

Ryan decided that it would be best to play dumb until he can actually explain "Your guess is as good as mine."

Amber flinched a bit at a noise before pulling out her scroll to see that Ozpin was calling her. As Amber answered the call, Ozpin spoke "Amber, where's Ryan and Exetior?"

Ryan and Exetior came to Amber as the Fox Faunus responded "What is it Ozpin?"

"There are reports of Grimm of multiple types breaching Vale, I want you to get as many people out of the city as possible!"

"Got it!" Ryan responded as the call ended before turning to his team, Team JNPER and Fenrir "Ruby, Jaune?"

"Yeah?" Ruby responded.

"We're counting on you guys to deal with any threats in the city, we will be heading back to Beacon to deal with any Grimm that attack it." Ryan stated as Amber, Exetior and Fenrir nodded.

Ruby and Jaune looked at each other in uncertainty before turning back to the four and nodding as Ruby responded "Okay keep safe you guys."

Ryan cockily smirked as he countered "Save that for any Grimm we face."

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Damn I hate cliff-hangers but that just means I can focus all my energy to The Battle of Beacon next chapter.  
> Oh yeah and the staff Ryan used was L'Etranger, the signature weapon of Mistral from Metal Gear Rising.


	31. Chapter 31: Futile Determination (Part 1)

Ryan, Amber, Exetior and Fenrir all ran to one of the empty docking bays of Amity Colosseum as they stopped near the edge.

"Good! A clear landing but for the sake of not dealing with Monty's bitching over passengers." Ryan stated as he turned to the Half-Maiden, demon and android who all nodded to what Ryan was planning.

Ryan smiled as he focused on each of them before each of them were warped away via Kamui. Now that they were safe Ryan yelled out for the Nevermore "Monty!" before falling backwards off of the docking bay's edge.

Ryan was in a free-fall before he heard a familiar screeching, causing him to turn to see Monty flying towards him. Smiling, the Fox Faunus rotated his body as Monty flew closer before Ryan grabbed on and properly mounted the Nevermore.

But when the Nevermore squawked Ryan heard a new voice.

"Where to, Ryan?"

Ryan's eyes widened before recollecting himself and answering the Nevermore "To Beacon! Grimm will most likely attack there as well as Vale!"

"Got it!" At that Monty and Ryan started flying to Beacon as Ryan began speaking to Nyx.

_"Do you have any idea how Monty spoke words to me?"_

_"Most likely a side effect of our link, granting you the ability to speak to Grimm."_ Nyx speculated.

 _"Hmm cool."_ Ryan bluntly stated before seeing an Atlesian airship firing at it's fellow ships.

"Okay Monty scratch that. Get me to that airship!" Monty changed course as he flew upwards to avoid detection before Ryan jumped off as the pair was above it, using his thrusters to land on the top before walking to the front of the airship and looking inside to see Roman and who Ryan could barely recognise as Neo in the cockpit. Ryan smiled as he knocked on the glass, causing Roman and Neo to look at him and their eyes to widen before Ryan called out cheerfully "Hey guys! Uhm could you let me in?"

Roman and Neo looked at each other before conceding "Fine, kid. Neo!" the disguised mute nodded as she opened the side door, allowing Ryan to climb in.

"Perfect." Ryan stated as he brushed himself off before Roman asked "What do you want kid?"

"Well I was planning on heading to Beacon to deal with any Grimm or White Fang there via my Nevermore but this would be easier since this would be a smoother ride." Ryan explained, causing both Roman and Neo to raise an eyebrow in incredulity before Roman asked "And why should we take you there?"

Ryan chuckled a bit before answering "Oh but Roman I thought you and Neo played for the winning side, what with joining Cinder before this, so why don't you do the smart thing and join me in stopping the megalomaniac?"

"How the hell did you...!?" Roman asked before Ryan answered "I knew of many events that have happened before they actually happened, like your dealings with the White Fang, the first breach and even Neo breaking you out of containment." Neo soundlessly gasped at the fact Ryan already knew of what she did "I used this knowledge to throw a proverbial wrench into Cinder's plans up until this point. I also know that in this battle originally, you would meet your end via one of the Grimm eating you whole, Roman."

Roman and Neo looked at each other before Roman answered resolutely "Fine then." Roman turned back to the controls "Let's get to Beacon."

Ryan smiled at the answer before turning to Neo "Besides, Neo owes me for healing her back on the train anyway."

* * *

Beacon had become a battleground as Huntsmen and Huntresses-in-training were having to deal with the Grimm and White Fang invading as Roman landed the airship on the docking bay while the side door opened to reveal Ryan as he jumped out and landed on the ground.

"Shit." Ryan stated as he witnessed the carnage unfolding before bringing back Exetior, Amber and Fenrir.

"Ugh I'll never get used to that." Exetior griped before the trio saw the disaster.

"Oh dear Brother Gods." Amber stated in horror before Ryan gave an order "Okay everyone we need to deal with Cinder and her goons and take her down!" everyone turned to Ryan as he spoke "Exetior, Fenrir! You guys are with me, we need to be prepared for any run-ins with Mercury and Emerald. Amber! For the sake of not risking Cinder gaining the rest of your powers with your death, I need you to stay with Roman and Neo in that airship." everyone nodded as Ryan, Exetior and Fenrir went deeper into Beacon while Amber climbed back into the airship.

Amber walked up to the cockpit before a parasol was pressed into her neck, revealing Neo in her original attire.

"I'm a friend of Ryan's, thank you." Amber stated as Neo removed Hush from Amber's neck while the Half-Maiden sat down.

* * *

Ryan, Exetior and Fenrir were running through the halls of Beacon as they sliced through any Grimm coming their way before hearing a scream, causing the trio to stop as Ryan turned to the direction before Ryan gave an order to Fenrir "Fenrir! Go assist whoever that was!"

"Affirmative!" Fenrir ran off to the hall the scream came from while Ryan and Exetior continued down the path to the Ozpin's office.

Fenrir kept running as he came across the dining hall, now burning as he saw an Atlesian soldier being tossed away, the perpetrator being a young man a few inches taller than Ryan with auburn hair streaked with brown streaks, but the most noticeable features of the man's appearance were the intricate mask he wore over his eyes and his weapons; A red blade Fenrir recalled from his data banks to be a chokutō sheathed within a scabbard that looked to be a rifle.

[[song: Sirens of Combat - Brandon Yates]]

"Scanning..." Fenrir stated out loud, garnering the young man's attention before Fenrir spoke again "Target: Adam Taurus. Threat Level: Significant. Course of Action:..." Fenrir used his manipulator tail to detach Voidsplitter from it's mount as he revved it's blades while his visor came together "Reduce Threat Level."

Adam scowled as he turned to Fenrir before speaking "Another machine of Atlas." Fenrir growled at the assumption "You'll break like all the rest."

Fenrir and Adam became blurs as the pair clashed, Voidsplitter's teeth grinding against Wilt's blade before the Bull Faunus and Android engaged in a rapid flurry of slashes that cancelled each other out before Adam began to glow red. Fenrir took notice of this too late as Adam unleashed a powerful slash that sent the Android backwards.

Fenrir righted himself as he thought about what happened.

_"So his Semblance absorbs attacks directed at his sword and unleashes it all at once."_

Fenrir took up a stance as Voidsplitter's teeth stopped rotating and sunk into the blades, not noticing how his own accents glowing a faint blue.

_"Just have to avoid actively attacking until he leaves an opening."_

As Adam lunged at Fenrir, the Android went into the defensive as he parried each swing of Wilt without attacking, angering the Bull Faunus.

"Hit me already, you piece of junk!" Adam spat out.

"You've requested to be hit, implying a hidden masochism." Fenrir snarked, causing Adam to roar as he threw Wilt in a buzz saw like spin, towards the Android who rose Voidsplitter to block the rotating blade. Once Wilt stopped it's spin, Adam ran to grab his blade before unleashing an upward slash that knocked Voidsplitter out of Fenrir's grip and behind the Android as Adam followed up with a couple of rounds from Blush. While Fenrir's aura reduced the damage, the sound of gunfire caused Fenrir to try and slash at Adam with his claws. Adam blocked each and every slash with Wilt before countering with another Semblance charged slash that sends Fenrir flying.

Fenrir righted himself back on the floor as he noticed that Voidsplitter was embedded into a table. Thinking quickly, Fenrir grabbed Voidsplitter as he used it's railgun function to fire metal slugs at Adam only for the Bull Faunus to slice through each one before charging at the Android again, only this time Adam didn't attack Fenrir directly but instead circled him while creating black and red clones in an attempt to confuse the Android.

Fortunately for Fenrir, thanks to Ryan making the Android able to react to his speed, he was able to see the real Adam prepare another enhanced slash. Adam launched a destructive wave towards Fenrir who managed to block the attack and take advantage by sending Adam upwards with a slash from below and before the Bull Faunus hit the ground unleashed a second horizontal slash that slammed him into a wall that cracked from the force.

Adam slowly got up, despite the immense pain he felt from those hits and realised that his Aura was running low, meaning he won't be able to take much more. Adam was barely able to react as Fenrir charged at him. Adam managed to dodge a stab as he moved to the side before slashing Fenrir's side, forcing Fenrir to respond in kind with a slash of his own which Adam parried with Wilt before the pair engaged with a flurry of blades of which Fenrir kept on getting hit while Adam parried or dodged each of Fenrir's. Fenrir tried to swing Voidsplitter at Adam one more time before Adam activated his Semblance and used the stored energy to disarm Fenrir of Voidsplitter again while knocking the Android back.

"You really think you can beat me?" Adam asked.

"Well I've certainly kept you on your toes for this long. My creator might actually consider you a decent challenge for him if you two meet." Fenrir stated.

Adam growled before Fenrir ran towards him and tried to slash him with his claws only for the Bull Faunus to parry the slash. Fenrir doesn't stop however as he begins to run around Adam while slashing at him, Adam only able to react fast enough to block, not counter.

Adam felt his Semblance charging up and reach a point that he believed to be enough to end his mechanical opponent, but Fenrir's speed was making it hard to find an opening. Fenrir took advantage of Adam's hesitation as he attempted to slash at the Bull Faunus's face. Adam just barely avoided the attack but his mask was knocked off revealing the top half of Adam's face to Fenrir; A brand of the Schnee Dust Company's logo was burned across the left side of his face with the eye on that area bloodied and with a grey iris and red sclera compared to his unmarred blue eye.

Adam took advantage of Fenrir's distraction as he unleashed his Semblance's stored power, the area turning red as Adam and Fenrir became black before a red slash appeared on Fenrir's chassis, the Android howling as he went flying into a wall. Adam smirked as walked up to the wounded Fenrir, a giant gash on his chassis revealed his core while one half of his visor was broken and the optical sensor behind it was damaged beyond repair.

[[song end]]

"It was your fault thinking you could take me down." Adam stated before readying a final slash to finish Fenrir off. Fenrir's sole optical sensor flared to life as he saw Voidsplitter next to him, acting with a greater speed than before Fenrir grabbed his weapon with his still functioning manipulator tail as he revved it's blades while his body and Voidsplitter turned white aside from the accents of both his frame and weapon which turned a deep azure. Fenrir moved at speeds he never knew he could reach as he slashed at Adam's extended arm. Time seemed to slow before Adam's Aura broke while his arm and Wilt flew away from him. Adam looked at the severed arm in shock for a moment as it slowly turned to ash before looking where it originally was, now a bleeding stump as he grasped the stump as he tried to bite down the pain but failed as he released a scream of agony.

Fenrir shakenly got up, parts of his frame sparking but still functioning as he looked to Adam and spoke, his voice glitching "AnD iT wAs YoUr FaUlT fOr AsSuMiNg i wAs tHe sAmE aS aTlAs' MaChInEs. nOw LeAvE!" Fenrir barked the last statement as he slowly walked away leaving Adam to shakenly get up as he slowly walked to Wilt and sheathed it back into Blush as he left, hate adorned his face as he walked out of the dining hall.

* * *

[[Data Entry 61:

Name: Adam Taurus

Species: Faunus: Bull

Age: Undefined (Within Late Teens)

Universe of Origin: Remnant

One of the White Fang's High Leaders and Blake Belladonna's Ex, Adam went from fighting for Faunus rights to becoming no better than the Humans that justified the White Fang's creation. Obsessed with Blake after her defection.

Semblance: Moonslice

Weapon(s): Wilt and Blush (Weapons of Choice)

]]

[[Data Entry 62:

Name: Spirit Emulation

User: Fenrir

A life or death situation for Fenrir has awoken his Semblance. Unique in the fact that similar yet different to Ryan's Weapon Emulation System, Spirit Emulation allows Fenrir to mimic the Semblances of other fighters to the exact detail granting similar variety to Ryan's WES, that is to say, nearly limitless.

]]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the sake of how long this is gonna be, Futile Determination will be segmented into separate parts.  
> Also, longest fight scene yet and karma to the metaphorically bull-headed asshole that is Adam Taurus.


	32. Chapter 32: Futile Determination (Part 2)

Ryan and Exetior stopped running as they heard a bloodcurdling scream of agony from where Fenrir went before they recommenced their dash to Ozpin's tower only to be stopped by Emerald and Mercury in front of them.

"Really?" Exetior started with a flat expression towards Mercury "Was getting your ass kicked in Amity Colosseum not enough, now you two want to face us?"

"You two won't be fighting them."

A voice caught everyone's attention before walking in front of Ryan and Exetior was Glynda.

"Professor Goodwitch?" Ryan started before Glynda stated "Keep going you two, I will dispatch this pair."

Ryan and Exetior looked at each other before Ryan nodded as he spoke "Okay. Good luck."

Ryan and Exetior dashed past Mercury and Emerald as the pair glared at Glynda before she lifted a mass of lockers with her Semblance.

"Now you two will learn what happens to disobedient students!" Glynda stated as she tossed a couple of lockers towards the pair.

* * *

Ryan and Exetior continued running down the halls before a fearsome roar got their attention.

"What was that!?" Exetior asked before the pair turned towards a window to see what looked like a humongous dragon Grimm flying towards Beacon.

_"A Wyvern. We need to deal with it!"_

Ryan nodded at Nyx's statement before turning to Exetior "Keep going! Me and Nyx will deal with the Wyvern!"

Exetior nodded as he continued running before Ryan got into a running start as he jumped out the window and activated his thrusters to fly towards the Wyvern.

 _"We could try to deal with it non-violently by convincing the Wyvern to assist us."_ Ryan suggested.

 _"Good idea. Wyverns, despite their tremendous size and strength are more wise and willing to listen to reason than even Goliaths and Megoliaths."_ Nyx agreed before pointing out _"We will need to be larger for it to listen to us."_

 _"I've got that covered."_ Ryan stated before shouting out "Susano'o!" Instead of a ribcage and arm, from Ryan came forth a silver light as it formed bone, then skin, then armour as surrounding Ryan was a winged titan that resembled a medieval knight. The knight reached for one of the wings as it grabbed what looked like a handle being held by a hand on the wing before pulling, revealing a large sword which to scale would be the size of a normal Zweihander as the knight began to fly towards the Wyvern.

The Wyvern stopped in it's path as it saw the knight as Nyx spoke through Ryan's mouth.

"Wyvern! Cease your flight towards Vale!"

The Wyvern was surprised to hear the voice of the knight before speaking itself "What are you, warrior?"

"I am Nyx, a Geist that has bonded to a Dustling Huntsman during the first breach of Vale short of a month ago before your awakening and I come here with a request." Nyx explained.

"Very well." The Wyvern conceded "What is your request young one?"

"Currently Grimm have attacked Vale, all because of one Dustling woman who is trying to retrieve the rest of a power she never deserved in the first place. Let myself along with my host and partner end this nuisance in your stead and trust in your assistance if needed."

The Wyvern thought for a bit before responding "Wyverns like myself take pride in earning our strength. It's one thing for one of the lesser Grimm to undermine our effort by gaining unearned power, when it's a Dustling however... Very well you have my acceptance." The Wyvern stated as it noticed a tremendous change on it's body, the red membrane of it's wings now a deep blue while it's eyes and skull markings shifted to a similar colour.

"Curious." The Wyvern examined the new look with intrigue before Nyx explained "That is the result of becoming truly free, Wyvern. Myself and a Nevermore were also lucky enough to attain this state thanks to my host's kindness."

"Hmm." The Wyvern thought before asking "May I see your host as I can tell this isn't his true form?"

"Of course." The knight faded away as Ryan's body was revealed before Ryan spoke from his own mouth "Oh hello."

The Wyvern examined Ryan's body before accepting "You have my faith, young Dustling."

"Oh thank you... Uh..."

"Umbra." The Wyvern introduced himself.

"Ryan." The Fox Faunus responded in kind with a smile "We won't let you down."

"I know you won't." Umbra stated before flying back to the direction he came from while Ryan flew back to Vale as fast as he could.

* * *

[[Data Entry 63:

Species: Grimm

Sub-Species: Wyvern

Universe Of Origin: Remnant

One of the most dangerous types of Grimm to exist, not many defences were made for the Wyverns as attacks were very rare and only occurred from insurmountable negativity.

Weapon(s): Fangs, Ramming, Capability of spawning lesser Grimm

]]

[[Data Entry 63:

Name: Umbra

Species: Grimm: Wyvern

Age: Unknown

Universe Of Origin: Demonic Justice Remnant

Residing within Mountain Glenn itself, Umbra is living history as a Wyvern. At a cost of becoming free, Umbra lost the ability to attract other Grimm with his mere presence.

Weapon(s): Read Data Entry 62

]]


	33. Chapter 33: Futile Determination (Part 3)

Exetior continued running through the makeshift battlefield of Beacon before he reached the base of Beacon Tower.

"I won't make it to the top in time if I take the elevator." Exetior stated as he looked up before smiling "Unless..."

Exetior proceeded to use Soul Link to embed two chains to the outer wall above him before pulling himself towards them, detaching them as he met their height only to reattach the chains higher up.

* * *

Cinder calmly strode through the smoke coming from the barely functioning elevator into Ozpin's office, satisfied that she put an end to Beacon's meddlesome headmaster before he could deny her what she deserved. Now she just needed to find Amber and retrieve the rest of _her_ power to succeed.

Her thoughts were cut off as a person crashed through the window, chains adorning his arms before they faded away while he stood up.

"Cinder Fall." Exetior spoke as he turned his head towards her "Me and my partner know all about you."

Cinder smiled as she humoured the demon "Oh do you?"

"Yes. You are someone who knows what she wants,-" Cinder nodded "-someone who desires to be feared,-" Cinder's smile deepened until Exetior's next words "-someone who's willing to obtain power that she never deserved to take in the first place."

[[song: Shadow Slicer - Ray Casarez]]

Cinder's expression underwent a complete 180 as she scowled at Exetior before drawing Midnight and speaking "What do you know of deserving power?"

Exetior smirked as he drew Fallen Grace before answering "More than you know, Fall."

Cinder and Exetior stood stock still before Exetior lunged towards Cinder as she fired a broad-headed arrow to which Exetior parried before he attempted to slash at Cinder's neck.

The False Maiden turned her bow into a pair of swords as she blocked the swing. Scowling, Cinder used her Maiden powers to blast Exetior back with a gust of wind, only for the demon to steady himself by digging Fallen Grace into the floor. Undaunted, Exetior activated the Lightning Dust in his blade before unleashing a wave of electricity towards Cinder who evaded before preparing a large blast of fire, giving Exetior enough time to say one phrase.

"Oh shit."

Before Cinder unleashed the blast, blowing up the office and knocking Exetior off the tower. Cinder walked towards the side Exetior fell from and smirked at her foe's imminent demise. Exetior scowled before throwing Fallen Grace into a spin around the side of Beacon tower and sending a couple of Soul Link's chains to it. Once Exetior felt his chains catch it, he pulled his arm back, causing Fallen Grace to be pulled towards him and through Beacon Tower, slicing clean through the building diagonally.

Cinder stumbled slightly as she saw the smile on Exetior's face before he sent a couple of chains to the destroyed office and pulled himself back into the fray, kicking Cinder and sending the both of them onto the now flattening side of the severed Beacon Tower before they continued, Exetior activating Fallen Grace's whip mode and Water Dust as he unleashed a wave of water towards Cinder who sent a fireball to counter it before firing three arrows towards the demon. Exetior deflected the arrows only for Cinder to detonate them with her Semblance, blinding the demon and allowing Cinder to wail on him with her swords, her slashes wearing down Exetior's Aura before ending with a thrust that sent Exetior backwards. Exetior regained his sight and felt his Aura waning but he refused to go down without a fight as he rushed towards the False Maiden, reverting Fallen Grace to it's sword form as he swung at Cinder with renewed vigour. Cinder was having extra difficulty in parrying Exetior's swings but trumphed as she jabbed at the demon's stomach, setting him up for a powerful blast of flame that launched him through Beacon Tower as it hit the ground, kicking up dust as it broke apart.

[[song end]]

* * *

Ryan was nearly at Beacon when he saw Beacon Tower fall. Desperate, he tried to sense Exetior's Aura and succeeded in getting a faint signal from his partner, distressing him.

"No..." Ryan simply stated before he increased his speed threefold to make it in time.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To reiterate, fucking hate cliff-hangers, they lead you on and for the most part by the time the next part is shown, you lose the energy you had.


	34. Chapter 34: Futile Determination (Part 4)

As the dust settled, Exetior was slumped against a piece of the destroyed Beacon Tower, his left arm broken causing him to wince in pain as his Aura finally broke before looking to see Cinder slowly strolling up to him as she smiled sinisterly.

"Tell me." Cinder spoke causing Exetior to scowl as he focused "Do you believe in destiny, Exetior?"

Exetior hmphed before responding "Yes. I believe in destiny. It's where one's actions decide what happens for them and how they make use of it."

"Indeed. Then you know that your actions have led to this very moment." Cinder stated before she formed Midnight and an arrow, the False Maiden pulling the arrow back before a voice shouted out.

"Back off!"

Cinder had barely enough time to react as she jumped backwards while a figure slammed onto where she formerly was, kicking up dust before revealing Ryan who stood up straight before turning to Exetior.

"Shit." Ryan started casually, as if his partner wasn't in mortal peril "You okay?"

"My arm and Aura are both broken, Ryan, and I was currently about to lose a vessel." Exetior snarked "Thanks for the concern."

Ryan rolled his mismatched eyes before asking "Can you walk?"

Exetior strained before he managed to get up "Limp? Yes. Walk? Certainly not."

"Well get to the airshi-" Ryan was interrupted as he quickly caught an arrow without turning before looking to Cinder with a flat expression as he scolded her "Excuse me, I'm in the middle of something, wait your turn."

Cinder blinked at the lack of stress from Ryan while he turned back to Exetior "Head back to the airship, I'll deal with this disrespectful foe."

Exetior nodded as he responded "Okay good luck." before moving as fast as his injuries would let him away from the pair.

"So." Ryan started as he turned to Cinder "You managed to badly injure Exetior, very impressive."

"I take it not many have done it?" Cinder asked with a smirk, causing Ryan to smirk back as he responded "Usually they die before they get an iota of a chance to."

[[song: Interstellar Retribution - Nick Nitro]]

Ryan proceeded to draw Fury as Cinder turned Midnight into a pair of swords, both sides staring each other down before Ryan broke into a run as he readied a slash which Cinder parried with one sword before retaliating with a stab at Ryan's stomach which Ryan leaned out of the way of as he jumped back before calling out "Terra Mode!" quickly being covered by stone until he fired the fragments at Cinder who used her semblance to melt the stone before she shot the molten rock back at Ryan.

Ryan proceeded to rapidly spin Fury in front of him to shield himself from the lava. Once Fury stopped spinning, it was caked in molten stone which Ryan simply got rid of with a flick of his wrist before shouting "Pyro Mode!" exchanging the stone for flames as he unleashed a wave of fire at Cinder who dispersed it with her magic before sending a powerful gale at Ryan.

* * *

Exetior managed to make it to the airship as he knocked on the door before it opened, revealing Amber.

"Exetior! Your arm!" Amber exclaimed before the demon waved it off "Never mind that, Ryan's currently fighting Cinder!"

"What!?" Amber started before Roman called out "Will he be okay?"

Exetior looked at Amber before he admitted "Even I don't know but considering the condition I'm in, it's a 50/50 with who wins."

Amber looked at Exetior before calling to the master criminal "Roman, get us in the air and near them!"

"Where are they?" Roman asked before Exetior answered "Near what's left of Beacon Tower!"

Exetior climbed in as he sat in one of the passenger seats before Roman started the airship to fly towards the Faunus and False Maiden.

* * *

Ryan barely avoided a wave of stone from Cinder before throwing Fury towards her which she sent away with another gale, forcing Ryan into unarmed combat.

Ryan lunged at Cinder before throwing a punch that while Cinder dodged, managed to knock away debris before blocking a slash at his neck with the other arm as Cinder put Ryan onto the defensive with unyielding slashes that Ryan could only parry while his Aura was now on it's last reserves.

The spectacle continued before Ryan saw a familiar airship, which Ryan focused to see Amber in the cockpit. Panicked, Ryan shouted out "No!" giving Cinder the opening she needed and went for Ryan once more.

[[song end]]

This time Ryan couldn't avoid or parry the incoming attack as Cinder slashed out his eyes, causing Ryan to howl in pain while Amber covered her mouth in order not to scream while Exetior stared in genuine shock. Ryan went onto one knee as his Aura finally broke while Cinder walked up to the now blind Fox Faunus as Nyx screamed in his head.

_"Get up!"_

"Hmph." Cinder started as Ryan directed his face towards her, his mismatched eyes gone revealing hollow eye sockets as blood leaked out "To think you were capable of giving Roman, Mercury and Emerald difficulty." Cinder turned Midnight back into a bow as she pulled back an arrow "Watts will enjoy analysing your arms." Cinder fired the arrow as it went into Ryan's chest, piercing his heart and causing him to gasp before he burst into flames via Cinder's magic "I'm not taking any chances though."

* * *

Ryan opened his eyes as he saw that he was in a black void. The Fox Faunus looked around before he saw what resembled a screen revealing Cinder and the bonfire containing his corpse as the False Maiden looked to see the airship Amber and Exetior were in. Smiling sinisterly, Cinder was preparing a fireball to destroy the airship and kill Amber.

"No!" Ryan banged a metal fist on the screen as tears filled his eyes "I was so close! And I had to fuck it up when it mattered most!" Ryan clutched his chest in pain before he saw his soul, now a solid sphere of slightly shifting white, as it cracked.

"Ryan! Snap out of it!" Ryan gasped before turning to see a copy of him, with solid blue eyes and markings around his right eye while his right arm looked just like his.

"N-Nyx?" Ryan started before Nyx interrupted "For the short time I've known you, I've never seen you just give up."

"But?"

"But nothing! You have fought time and time again to help everyone. Are you really not gonna do something to prevent this?"

Ryan looked at his hands before turning to the screen. He focused on Exetior and Amber before the image changed to show his team and Penny, the latter missing an arm and patches of skin missing on her face. Ryan wiped the tears from his eyes before opening them with new resolve.

[[The thought of your friends seeing you dead. The thought of Cinder winning. The thought of all your hard work being undone.

All of those thoughts fill you with...

Patience.]]

The crack faded from Ryan's soul.

[[Bravery.]]

Ryan clenched his fists.

[[Integrity.]]

Ryan grit his teeth.

[[Perseverance.]]

Ryan steeled his gaze.

[[Kindness.]]

Ryan tensed his muscles.

[[Justice.]]

Ryan's fox ears flattened.

[[Fear.]]

Ryan's Sharingan and Rinnegan activated.

[[Hate.]]

The sclera of Ryan's Sharingan eye turned black for a fleeting moment.

[[DETERMINATION.]]

Ryan roared as he and his soul emitted a immensely bright white light that consumed the entire void.

* * *

Cinder was about to launch a fireball to end Amber before she tensed up. Cinder turned to see the bonfire containing Ryan's corpse turn black as it burned even more fiercely, clearing the debris before dispersing, revealing Ryan, alive and in near perfect condition as he ripped the arrow out of his chest while red energy filled his eye sockets before fading, revealing his Sharingan and Rinnegan, both completely intact as he glared at Cinder with an unyielding hate.

"I-impossible!" Cinder stated in complete shock "I cut out your eyes! How are you looking at me like that!?"

"Fuck you that's how." Ryan spat out, causing Cinder to flinch before Ryan continued "Y'know Cinder. You've spent most of your time since joining Salem in a desperate attempt at gaining power you forfeited the right to have when you stole it. How about you face someone who properly earned their power now." Ryan simply said three final words "Grimm Link Mode."

Ryan tensed up as Nyx began to completely cover him while a black dome formed around the pair before dispersing to reveal Ryan, now with a completely new appearance; Replacing the casual attire he usually wore was a pitch-black suit of armour with a blue mark above where he was shot. His hair and tails were now a similar shade of black to his armour while the latter each had bones lining the front leading to the end each having a skull akin to a Beowolf Alpha at the tips while the tips of his fox ears were now an deep azure, in fact all of the markings on Ryan's armour and tail skulls were azure instead of the usual red Grimm have. The most noticeable change was Ryan himself; Unity's arms both almost looked like they were part of the aforementioned armour while his skin was now a deathly white while a third eye resembling both his Sharingan and Rinnegan opened vertically on his forehead. He also had black markings around both his eyes similar yet different to the marking Nyx had on his right eye while his face was lined with black veins.

[[song: Atonement - Ray Casarez]]

Cinder flinched at the uncanny similarities yet glaring differences between Ryan's current appearance and Salem before Ryan spoke, a deeper, more monstrous voice and a more childlike voice lining his own.

"Now Cinder." Ryan aimed an arm as it extended before retrieving Fury as the sword was enveloped in black and revealing an ornate white scimitar in it's place while he aimed his tails at the False Maiden "Time to show you just how outclassed you are."

Cinder snapped out of her shock before readying one of Midnight's swords "I don't care how you change your look, I won't be denied what I came for!"

Ryan and Cinder stood within the now clear battlefield before lightning struck causing Cinder to dash behind Ryan and unleash a torrent of fire on the Faunus only for Ryan to calmly walk behind her, causing Cinder to try and slash at him with her sword. Ryan backflipped to avoid the swing and countered by kicking Cinder into the air before warping above her and sending her back to the ground with a roundhouse kick. Cinder used the momentum she gained from righting herself to gain distance as she fired a barrage of fireballs towards Ryan. The Faunus hmphed as he slowly walked forwards while his tails batted the fireballs away, with the ninth tail's skull opening as it ate the final fireball. Desperate, Cinder willed the ground beneath Ryan to rise before crushing him.

[[song end]]

Cinder sighed in relief before she heard Ryan's voice.

"Almighty Push!"

The stone prison detonated revealing Ryan, completely fine as he lowered an arm.

[[song continue]]

Cinder tried to run before she was quickly stopped as a black mass held her legs in place, causing her to try and blast Ryan with more fire balls to keep him away. This time Ryan closed his eyes before opening them as they briefly flashed pink while he spoke.

"Rhabdophobia."

The surroundings went pink for a bit before returning to normal, but Cinder's fireballs also turned pink but remained that colour as they stopped in mid-air. With a wordless wave of his arms, the fireballs coalesced into one massive fireball before flying back towards Cinder whose eyes widened before she was hit as a huge explosion occurred, powerful enough to shake the airship Exetior and Amber were on.

[[song end]]

Ryan removed his arm from covering his eyes to see Cinder, burned in places and Aura broken, lying on the ground. Ryan walked to Cinder as he willed more Hate to hold her in place and cover her hands and feet, Cinder opened her eyes and panicked as he kneeled next to her and reached a hand out.

"You took a power you never deserved." Ryan stated calmly "Time to give it back."

Soul magic extended from Ryan's arm as it reached into Cinder's body before pulling an orange orb out, causing Cinder's eyes to fade a bit before Ryan released the sphere as it flew towards it's original and true owner, Amber. The sphere faded into Amber's body as her eyes produced flames for a bit before they returned to normal.

Ryan smiled for the first time since coming back from the dead before turning back to Cinder as the Hate returned to it's host, his serious expression returning.

"Now." Ryan picked Cinder up as he put her back on her feet while keeping a hand on Cinder's shoulder "Send a message to Salem for me. As long as I stay determined to do the right thing, she'll be in for a reality check."

Ryan's eyes flashed a deep blue for a bit before Cinder disappeared in a blue light.

Ryan sighed in relief for a moment as he reverted back to normal, the armour remaining as he saw Roman's airship landing. Ryan smiled as he watched Roman, Neo, Amber and Exetior exit the ship as they ran to him.

"I don't know how you did it kid." Roman started "But I'm impressed how you took down Cinder."

Ryan smiled as he responded "She'll be back though, but I'll be ready!" Ryan flexed one of his arms to emphasise that statement.

"How did you come back from the dead? You were shot through the heart and was engulfed in flames." Amber pointed out.

Ryan laughed as he guessed "I guess I was so determined, I effectively kicked Death himself in the jewels and willed myself back to life."

"Nonetheless,-" Exetior started "-we better reunite with our teams."

Ryan nodded before he heard sparks. The group of five turned to see Fenrir, still heavily damaged as he limped towards them.

"Oh shit! Fenrir!" Ryan exclaimed before running up to him "What happened!?"

Fenrir's voice glitched out as he spoke "i HaD tO dEaL wItH aDaM tAuRuS, wHiLe i Am DaMaGeD, i CaN bE rEpAiReD, aDaM tAuRuS cAn'T gRoW hIs ArM bAcK."

Ryan realised what Fenrir just said before gaining a shit-eating grin "Oh my god." Ryan then laughed as if he was told the funniest joke on Remnant "You sliced off one of Adam's arms?" Ryan broke down again into giggles before he recollected himself "Okay, I'm proud that you did that. We'll get you patched up once everyone gets here."

As if on cue, a Bullhead landed near the group before opening to reveal Teams RRWBY, JNPER, CFVY and Penny as they walked out.

"Rya-!" Ruby's greeting was cut off as the group of thirteen saw Roman, Neo and Ryan in his new armour. Everyone readied their weapons on Roman before Ryan shouted out "Hold your fire! He's on our side!"

Everyone blinked before Blake asked incredulously "How is he on our side!?"

"He helped us get to Beacon." Ryan stated a half-truth.

Everyone blinked again before putting away their weapons. Ryan turned to Penny as he asked with sincere concern "Are you okay, Penny?"

Penny nodded as she gave a thumbs up with her remaining arm and responded "I am still operational despite my condition Ryan."

Ryan smirked as he spoke "Still puts you in a better condition than Fenrir." Ryan gestured to the damaged wolf "Still surprised _he_ still can function after his beating."

"Who did that?" Blake asked as Ryan gave a gentle smile "Your Ex, Adam."

Blake's blood ran cold before she asked "Where is he?"

"Don't know. Just know that Fenrir paid him back in kind by slicing off one of his arms." Ryan stated before asking the wolfen Android "Where is his arm anyway?"

"sHoRtLy AfTeR i SlIcEd It OfF, iT tUrNeD tO aShEs." Fenrir answered before stating "i MaY hAvE uNlOcKeD mY sEmBlAnCe ThEn."

Ryan's eyes widened before asking "What is it?"

"i BeLiEvE tHaT iT mAy Be a MiMiCrY sEmBlAnCe As i FeLt My aUrA bEcOmE sImIlAr To aDaM's BeFoRe i SlIcEd HiS aRm OfF." Fenrir speculated.

Ryan smiled before turning to see Exetior conversing with his team while Ren and Pyrrha were examining his broken arm to the best of their ability before turning to see Velvet and her team walk up to him.

"Nice to see you too Velvet." Ryan stated with a smile, causing Velvet to have a faint smile as she responded "Same here."

"So this is the guy that Velvet and Exe spoke highly about." Ryan turned to see a young woman wearing a pair of shades and a beret while not looking out of place in a fashion magazine.

Ryan raised an eyebrow as he responded "Yes I am... Uh..."

"Coco Adel, Leader of Team CFVY and teammate of Velvet's."

"Ryan Wilson, Powerhouse of Team RRWBY and partner to Exetior."

Coco lowered her shades to look at Ryan with her own eyes before smiling "Nice job at winning the Vytal Festival before this anyway."

Ryan smiled in kind as he responded "Thanks, I wasn't gonna let myself get taken out easily."

"Certainly gave Velvet something to stare at when you fought her." Coco gestured to Penny as Velvet sputtered, her face red "Coco..."

"What, am I not supposed to tell him you were drooling and got a nosebleed at the same time." Coco responded with a cheeky smirk, causing Velvet's face to go even redder "C-Coco..."

"Wait really?" Ryan asked, genuinely unaware that it happened.

"Yeah, she even took pictures at the end." At that point Velvet's face became redder than Ruby's cloak while Ryan nodded "I take it she wasn't the only one."

"That's right." Coco answered truthfully before another of Velvet's teammates walked up to them; A young man even taller than Ryan wearing a green robe and had a sword almost as large as the man himself held on his back by a padded brown strap.

"That's enough Coco. We rather not have Velvet faint from embarrassment." The young man stated, causing Coco to whine jokingly "Oh come on Yatsu, she's fine." Coco gestured to Velvet who was trying to hide her still blushing face with her camera before explaining to Ryan "This is Yatsuhashi Daichi, _our_ powerhouse and Velvet's partner."

Ryan and Yatsu both looked at each other and exchanged a silent smile and nod, confusing Coco "You aren't going to introduce yourselves?"

Ryan smiled as he turned to Coco "An entire conversation can be made just by looking at someone, Coco." Yatsu nodded in agreement before Ryan turned to see a second young man walk up to the group of four; This one with dark skin, copper hair and scars all across his arms.

"Oh Ryan this is Fox Alistair, the joker for our team." Coco introduced the man.

"As long as he doesn't make terrible puns, he's cool with me." Ryan joked, causing Fox to smile and wordlessly nod. Everyone socialised pretty calmly now that they could rest easy. 

* * *

[[Data Entry 64:

Name: Grimm Link Mode

User: Ryan Wilson/Nyx

A soul blackening, breaking down, was restored to light by it's hopes and dreams. A being of both light and dark was born from Determination.

Weapon(s): Tail heads, Metamorphosis, Enhanced strength and reflexes. Read Data Entry 1 for the rest.

]]

[[Data Entry 65:

Name: Coco Adel

Species: Human

Age: 18

Universe Of Origin: Remnant

Leader of Team CFVY, Coco can shred Grimm to pieces and look great doing it.

Semblance: Hype

Weapon(s): Gianduja (Weapon of Choice)

]]

[[Data Entry 66:

Name: Yatsuhashi Daichi

Species: Human

Age: 18

Universe Of Origin: Remnant

Partner to Velvet, Yatsuhashi despite his self-consciousness towards his size, strength and Semblance, proves to be the level headed rein to his leader's more brash actions.

Semblance: Memory Wipe

Weapon(s): Fulcrum (Weapon of Choice)

]]

[[Data Entry 67:

Name: Fox Alistair

Species: Human

Age: 18

Universe Of Origin: Remnant

Partner of Coco. Fox's lack of sight has never stopped him from being a capable huntsman and valuable member of Team CFVY.

Semblance: Telepathy

Weapon(s): Sharp Retribution (Weapon of Choice)

]]


	35. Chapter 35: Dreaded Interlude

A few days passed as things went into relative normalcy; Cinder had ended Ozpin's life in the Battle of Beacon, causing Glynda to become Headmistress of Beacon Academy. Ryan's more open use of soul magic led Glynda to devise an extra credit course for the eager students who wanted to perform similar magic, with the exception of Team CRDL as Ryan's sole request. Roman, in order to keep watch of him and Neo was given the job of handling Beacon's funding while Neo became Glynda's assistant in combat class. Never have so many people been terrified of or had their asses kicked by a girl nearly half their size.

Ryan calmly strolled through Beacon's halls in his uniform as he saw students conversing with one another before scowling when he saw a familiar quartet of assholes picking on Velvet again.

 _"Am I a bad person if I wish they were casualties in the Battle of Beacon?"_ Ryan asked to himself before mentally slapping himself in the face _"The fuck am I saying, they're assholes."_

Ryan smiled a bit before scowling again as he walked up to Cardin and his team while they were pulling on Velvet's ears like when he first met her.

"Not so tough without your team, huh?" Cardin stated before someone tapped on his shoulder, causing him to turn around and almost shit himself when he realised who it was.

"R-Ryan!?" Cardin stammered in panic while his teammates responded in kind, causing Ryan to internally smirk before speaking "Don't you assholes have anything better to do?"

Cardin and his team stammered before Ryan turned to Velvet with a gentle smile "Go ahead, Velvet."

Velvet nodded while her eyes flashed blue as she used Integrity magic to lift and throw Team CRDL halfway across the hall causing Ryan to smirk before he turned back to Velvet and praised her "Great way of putting your lessons into practice by the way."

Velvet smiled as her cheeks gained some colour before Ryan continued his path as he reached his history teacher's classroom.

"Hello, Doctor Oobleck." Ryan greeted as Oobleck zipped towards him and spoke "Ah Ryan, good to see you. Would you like some coffee flavoured chocolates?" Oobleck offered his favourite student a pack of the coffee flavoured confectioneries "Thanks but the main reason I'm here is to check on how things have gone since our defence of Beacon for Professor Goodwitch." Ryan explained after taking the pack and having some chocolates.

"Of course. Fortunately most of the damages to the classrooms were surprisingly negligible, the teacher's lounge on the other hand..." Oobleck wiped a tear from behind his glasses.

"Don't worry, Doctor." Ryan started with a sympathetic smile "With the funding from the SDC and Atlas, we'll get everything back into peak condition. Well, near peak condition."

Oobleck smiled before asking "Did you see Peter?"

Ryan nodded "I visited him before you." Ryan then sighed in exasperation "It amazes me how that man can bring up a long tale with little provocation to do so."

"It's a mystery to this day." Oobleck stated before chuckling "Well I best not keep you. I'll let you be on your way."

Ryan nodded as he left Oobleck's class room to be greeted by Penny and Fenrir, the former with a temporarily replacement to her lost arm while Fenrir' visor and optical sensor was replaced and the gash on his chassis replaced with some reinforced steel, giving the appearance of a scar on his chest.

"Fenrir, Penny!" Ryan called out getting the pair's attention as Penny smiled.

"Salutations Ryan." Penny responded "Thank you for the replacement arm by the way." Penny raised the arm as she flexed the fingers.

Ryan nodded "It's just temporary until your dad can properly replace it."

Penny nodded before she turned solemn "Speaking of which, an airship back to Atlas will be coming soon to retrieve me."

Ryan's smile faded before he placed a hand on Penny's shoulder as he spoke "Come on, you're saying that as if you'll never see us again. Beacon's doors will be open for when you come back."

Penny's downtrodden look faded before she gave Ryan a hug as she said two simple words "Thank you."

Ryan chuckled while rolling his eyes before patting the Android's head and speaking "No problem, Penny."

Penny let go of Ryan before she and Fenrir continued on their way while he continued walking to Glynda's office, a substitute for Ozpin's own office which was currently scattered around both Beacon and and the Emerald Forest by Ryan's transformation a few days prior.

Ryan knocked on the door before Glynda's voice called from inside "Come in."

Ryan opened the door to reveal Glynda sitting at her desk, a cup of tea in her hands.

"Headmistress." Ryan greeted.

"Ryan." Glynda responded in kind "I take it you have checked on Peter and Bart?"

Ryan nodded "Yes, give you three guesses what took me so long to get here, and the first two don't count."

"Peter?" Glynda guessed.

"Peter." Ryan confirmed before stating "I encountered Penny on the way here. She will be leaving for Atlas soon."

"She isn't the only one." Glynda started causing Ryan to raise an eyebrow as she explained "Jacques has sent a request for Miss Schnee to return to Atlas. A second bullhead will arrive as well to retrieve her."

Ryan's fox ears flattened as he looked downtrodden "Damn. Well like what I said to Penny, it's not like we'll never see her again."

Glynda nodded before asking "Where is Nyx?"

Ryan chuckled as he answered "Last thing I saw him doing was engaging in an arm wrestling match with Yang in the dining hall while Nora wanted to play the winner. What about Mercury and Emerald?"

"Mr Black was willing to listen to reason but for Miss Sustrai, I believe you should talk to her."

Ryan nodded as he and Glynda left the office.

* * *

Ryan and Glynda reached the area Emerald was being detained, the thief looking entirely broken as she sat behind the table.

Ryan sighed before speaking "I'll see what I can do." Ryan proceeded to walk into the room, gaining Emerald's attention as she asked with a scowl "What are you doing here?"

Ryan sat on a chair on the opposite side of the table before he responded "I simply want to talk."

"I'm not going to tell you anything about-"

"Cinder?" Ryan interrupted "Already have all I need to know about her. But I am able to tell what kind of person she is anyway."

Emerald stiffened before Ryan continued "She is the kind of person that only cares about becoming stronger, nothing else. Anyone that interests her is only so because they could either assist her in her plans like you and Mercury or is a threat to said plans such as myself and Exetior. She offered you a chance to never go hungry again not because of some iota of kindness but because your Semblance could, and did, help her in taking something that wasn't hers to begin with, just like why she recruited Mercury for his skills. Once she got the rest of Amber's power, she would have no reason to leave you or Mercury alive and swiftly kill the both of you without a second thought."

"N-no she wouldn't..." Emerald tried to deny before Ryan spoke again "In fact the way she manipulated you is almost parallel to how Salem is manipulating her, Salem is playing to Cinder's megalomania just like how Cinder played to your desperation, Emerald." Emerald looked like her entire world had come crashing down on her before she clutched her chest in pain, causing Ryan to instinctively reveal her soul, which was a solid blue before it faded towards a greyer colouring and cracked.

"Oh shit." Ryan realised under his breath before speaking to Emerald "That being said I am willing to give the offer Cinder gave you, and even more willing to remain good on my word with not a single catch to it."

Emerald looked at Ryan and saw no deceit on his face, only a gentle smile that proved he was entirely truthful. Emerald felt the pain fade as she and Ryan saw Emerald's soul return to it's original blue while the crack began to repair itself before Emerald answered shakily "O-okay."

Ryan smiled as he got up and walked up to the exit before turning back to Emerald as he spoke "You're free to come with, you know."

Emerald smiled as she got up and followed him out of the detainment room.

* * *

Ryan opened the door to the dining hall to see a crowd of people all gathered around a table in the centre of the hall. Ryan moved through the crowd to see Nyx, who now resembled Ryan in his Grimm Link Mode, minus the skulls, facial markings and veins, and Nora both gripping each other's hand, trying to force the other's arm to the side.

Ryan chuckled before turning to see Amber next to him before he asked "So what's with the crowd?"

Amber didn't shift her focus from the display but responded still "Nyx beat Yang and Nora's trying to beat him. Everyone here is making bets on who will win."

"Ahh. Okay." Ryan stated before a devious smirk spread across his face as he called out "Hey Nora!"

Nora lost her focus as she turned her head to Ryan and greeted him cheerfully "Hi Ryan!"

Nyx took advantage of the distraction as he forced Nora's arm to the side and winning the game.

"Yes! Hahaha!" Nyx stated victoriously as people groaned while they had to pay up for losing their bets before everyone cleared away from the table leaving Teams RRWBY, JNPER, Amber and Nyx at the table.

"That was a dirty move, Ryan." Jaune stated with a laugh as Nyx returned to Ryan's right arm.

Ryan rolled his eyes before explaining "Jaune, I don't even need my Foresight ability to know that it would be hours before either of them give out. I just sped it up."

"Yeah, I lost 50 lien to Blake because of what you did, Ryan." Exetior stated in annoyance with his arm in a sling.

"You were the one who bet on Nora though." Ryan pointed out while Nora stuck her tongue out childishly before he turned to Weiss "Goodwitch told me what was happening later with you."

The mood turned sour as Weiss responded miserably "Yes, thanks to the Battle of Beacon, my father wants me back at Atlas as soon as possible."

Everyone was quiet for a moment before Ryan spoke "I have something that could help you put up with your dad and brother, Weiss." before Weiss could ask what it was, Ryan warped away before coming back holding one of his stress balls.

"A stress ball?" Ruby stated in confusion.

"Let's just say I've had to deal with whiny, pain-in-the-ass siblings too, so I believe this can at the very least help keep Weiss from losing it back home." Ryan explained, causing Weiss to smile as she accepted the ball from Ryan's hand and responded "Thank you, Ryan."

"I'm effectively the mediator for the team Weiss, I'd be doing a pretty terrible job if I couldn't provide solutions for situations."

The group regained their happiness, relieved that they could have a breather even for a moment.

* * *

In Evernight Castle, Cinder was seething, she had planned for months to retrieve the rest of the power she deserved only to be thwarted by a Faunus that should have been dead and a Grimm that wasn't under Salem's control while also losing said power to the very same Faunus.

"The next time we meet, Fox, I will..."

"You will do what?"

Cinder's rage quickly gave way to fear as she turned to see Salem standing before her, an unamused look on her face while a pair of Beowolves stood either side of her, only staying off of Cinder because Salem wouldn't allow them to.

"M-master!" Cinder started before Salem interrupted her "I believe you were at Vale, trying to obtain the rest of the Fall Maiden's power. How are you here when not a single one of my Grimm detected you?"

Cinder panicked internally before realising that telling Salem the truth would be smarter, easier and less risky than trying to lie.

"The truth is... I was defeated." Cinder internally vomited from admitting her loss.

Salem raised an eyebrow before asking "And who was the person to defeat you?"

"He was a Faunus. A Fox Faunus to be specific who went by the name of Ryan." Salem was somewhat intrigued to hearing of someone that didn't have the same procedure with his naming as others before she asked again "What allowed him to defeat you?"

"At first he was somewhat able to match me in our first proper battle, thanks to his arms allowing him to match my powers by way of transformations. Both his arms were entirely cybernetic but his right didn't look out of place for a Grimm. He could use fire, wind and stone respectively with each of his transformations as effectively as I could with my powers. I only won because of a timely distraction."

"You said you were defeated." Salem pointed out as the Beowolves growled, rendering Cinder panicked before she explained further "Y-yes I was in our second battle. I managed to slice out his eyes while his guard was down prior. I didn't want to take chances of him continuing so I shot him in the chest and set him ablaze, but somehow despite dying, he managed to come back while the flames he was engulfed in turned black and burned even fiercer before revealing him in perfect condition before he tore the arrow out of his chest as easily as removing a splinter while his eyes regenerated." Salem was now really intrigued before Cinder continued "It was even worse in the fact he had another transformation involving what looked to be a Geist."

Salem showed some genuine shock that one of her Grimm assisted in Cinder's defeat before she asked "What did this form grant him?"

Cinder sighed before answering "Appearance wise, he had many similarities yet glaring differences to yourself, he became garbed in black armour, his tail and hair became a similar shade while he developed heads that resembled Beowolf Alphas on the ends of each of his nine tails which were fully functioning as one outright ate one of my attacks."

"Hmm." Salem thought to herself "Anything else?"

"He developed a third eye on his forehead that from what I saw was based off of his normal eyes in appearance as it was completely red with black rings expanding outwards from the pupil."

Salem thought to herself some more before asking Cinder "Did you retrieve the rest of the Fall Maiden's powers?"

Cinder was inwardly dreading the question as she answered "Ryan defeated me and removed my half of those powers before I could get a chance."

"What?" Salem was shocked that Cinder no longer had her powers thanks to one Faunus.

"Ryan seemed to have access to a completely different kind of power as he somehow stole a few of my magic attacks and threw them back towards me which led to my defeat. He also stated towards you that as long as he stays determined, you are in for a reality check." 

Salem processed what Cinder stated before she spoke "You are dismissed. Clearly this Faunus is more of a threat than he seems if he could separate you from your powers and enlist one of my Grimm to his side."

"Of course." Cinder proceeded to leave as Salem thought to herself.

_"What power is capable of matching and surpassing Maiden magic, mark my words Ryan, you will be broken for what you've done."_

Unbeknownst to Salem, a certain Faunus and Grimm shuddered uncontrollably after her unspoken threat.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay and that's it for RWBY: Demonic Justice. I will be taking a break for a while before making a sequel to it.


End file.
